Arab News has a predictably deferential editorial today welcoming the return of Prince Sultan, heir to the Saudi throne, "after a full recovery from his illness".

"We share the general pleasure at his recovery and join with everyone in warmly welcoming him home," it says.

The prince, who is thought to be 83 or older, had spent most of this year "convalescing" at his palace in Morocco following surgery for an unspecified illness in the United States. 

Although Arab News looks forward to his "resumption of duties", others are drawing parallels with the terminally ill King Hussein who returned to Jordan in 1999 after treatment in the US, only to die a few days later.

Prince Sultan is thought to not get on well with 85-year-old King Abdullah and, in the words of Wikipedia, "his alleged roles in numerous corruption scandals involving hundreds of billions of dollars in military contracts ... severely marred his public persona".

In the event of Prince Sultan's death, the reactionary Prince Nayef, 76, is expected to become Crown Prince and heir to the throne.

Posted by Brian Whitaker, 12 December 2009.