Saudi King tweets eid greetings

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s 84-year-old ruler, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, tweeted Eidul Azha greetings early on Friday, shortly after leaving hospital, foreign media reported.

The Saudi King, custodian of Islam’s holiest sites, left King Faisal hospital on Thursday after undergoing surgery to remove his gallbladder earlier in the week, the state news agency SPA had reported.

The king, who has ruled the world’s largest oil exporter and close US ally since 2015, also prayed for an end to the coronavirus pandemic.

“I congratulate everyone on the occasion of Eidul Azha,” the Tweet said.

“I ask God almighty .... to lift the pandemic from our country and the world with his grace and mercy.”

Friday marks the first day of Eidul Azha, the feast of sacrifice, one of the two most important festivals of the Islamic calender.

King Salman had been admitted to hospital on July ??20?? suffering from inflammation of the gall bladder.

In a video released by SPA late on Thursday, the king could be seen walking steadily out of hospital, followed by several aides and his son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, wearing a face mask. The king was walking with a cane, as he usually does.