Saudi FM makes first public appearance after surgery

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al Faisal has made his first public appearance after undergoing surgery amid reports that he died after the operation, SPA state news agency said. Gulf foreign ministers who had met in Jeddah on Sunday visited the ailing Faisal in hospital, SPA said. A picture published by the news agency showed the 72-year-old prince dressed in traditional thawb Arabian dress and wearing sports shoes greeting the foreign ministers in the hospital. He was shown seated and looking frail. The royal court had said 10 days ago that Prince Saud was still recovering from an operation he underwent earlier in August to remove an obstruction in his intestines. At the time, the court said his condition was stable but reports later surfaced claiming that he had died after the operation — prompting a denial from foreign ministry. The Saudi press reported on Aug. 19 that King Abdullah had visited the prince at the Specialist Hospital in Jeddah, but no images of him were published. Saud is one of the world’s longest-serving foreign ministers, having been appointed to the post in 1975, seven months after the assassination of his father, king Faisal. Separately, according to Reuters, Gulf Arab foreign ministers said a plan to integrate six countries, proposed by Saudi Arabia last year needed more discussion after they met in Jeddah on Sunday. King Abdullah had urged the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to move “to the stage of unity in a single entity” at the end of a speech in December. The GCC countries in January ordered a committee to study the idea and it presented its proposals to the foreign ministers before Sunday’s meeting. (gulf today)