RIYADH: Saudi King Abdullah returned home on Wednesday to a red carpet reception after three months of treatment abroad for a back ailment, Al-Akhbariya state television reported, returning to a Middle East rocked by anti-regime uprisings.
As the plane carrying the monarch touched down at King Khaled bin Abdul Aziz Airport, a traditional Ardha dance was performed and well-wishers including black-clad women waited to see the ruler.
Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, second deputy premier and interior minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz and Bahraini King Hamad bin Issa al-Khalifa led a large number of officials to greet the king.
Streets and buildings in the capital, Riyadh, were decorated with national flags and large banners welcoming the 86-year-old monarch back to the oil-rich kingdom, whose neighbours Bahrain and Yemen are witnessing popular uprisings.
The front pages of all Saudi newspapers on Wednesday were dedicated to news of King Abdullah’s return, as editorials linked its timing to the "unrest" sweeping the Arab world.
"The king is the only pillar of stability in the region now," read the editorial in the English-language daily Arab News.
"He is the assurance of orderly progress… in the Arab world as a whole," it added.
"He is a lynchpin, someone who others across the region will look to lead and guide them through these heady but worrying and dangerous times."
Leading Arabic-language daily Okaz for its part lauded King Abdullah as an "oasis of peace" in the turbulent Middle East.
"The king returns today at a time when the Arab world is experiencing frightening developments to what he had left not only stable… but an oasis of peace and security full of love and loyalty," read the daily’s editorial.
Egyptian strongman Hosni Mubarak — the Saudi king’s close ally — was forced out of power under massive popular pressure on February 11 while King Abdullah was away.
Tunisian strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali had also fled to Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea city of Jeddah in mid-January after protests toppled his regime.
Tunisian authorities have formally asked Saudi Arabia to extradite Ben Ali and his wife Leila Trabelsi.
Tension today is also gripping Yemen as well as Arab League members Libya and Bahrain, home to a large Shia community which is demanding reform in the Sunni-ruled state.
Bahraini King Hamad bin Issa Al-Khalifa is due to arrive in Riyadh Wednesday.
Bahrain neighbours Saudi’s oil-rich Eastern Province, home to most of the estimated two million Saudi Shias.
The unrest in the Arab world has pushed oil prices higher on fear of disruption in supplies, but Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest crude exporter has said it has the capacity to meet any shortage.
King Abdullah flew to New York on November 22 and underwent surgery two days later for a debilitating herniated disc complicated by a haematoma.
The monarch’s advanced age combined with health problems have raised concerns about the future of Saudi Arabia, which has been ruled by the Al-Saud family since 1932.
Abdullah’s half-brother, Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, who has held the post of defence minister ever since 1962, is 83 and is believed to have cancer.
Little seen at home for the previous two years, Sultan himself flew back from Morocco on November 21 to take over the running of the government in Abdullah’s absence.
Interior Minister Prince Nayef, 77, is third in line to the Saudi throne and was appointed second deputy prime minister in March 2009.
King Abdullah is expected to carry out a cabinet reshuffle after the terms of several ministers expired on February 19 and were not extended.
