Saudi King Abdullah was in the forefront of royals and top officials who were present at Riyadh Air Base to receive the body of Prince Sultan on Monday.
The body arrived at the air base at 7.05 p.m. from New York on a Saudi Arabian Airlines' flight. Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior Prince Naif, other princes, Sultan's sons and a large number of citizens were also present at the airport.
Prince Sultan died in a New York hospital on Saturday after a prolonged illness. "The plane carrying the body of Prince Sultan had top Saudi officials on board including Prince Salman, governor of Riyadh," an informed source told Arab News.
The funeral prayer for the late prince will be held at Imam Turki bin Abdullah Mosque in Riyadh after Asr prayer.
King Abdullah has ordered funeral prayers for Prince Sultan at the Grand Mosque in Makkah, the Prophet's Mosque in Madinah and all other mosques in the Kingdom on Tuesday.
Preparations were under way in the Saudi capital for the crown prince's funeral and for receiving top world leaders, who have started arriving in Riyadh.
The US delegation will be led by Vice President Joe Biden, said Mofid H. Deak, a spokesman of the US Embassy.
The prince will be laid to rest at the city's sprawling Al Oud Cemetery in a simple grave in keeping with Islamic burial traditions. The cemetery, where the late King Fahd, King Khaled, King Faisal and Prince Sultan's father King Abdulaziz are also buried, is a common burial ground for the general public as well as for the members of the royal family in Riyadh.
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