Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah returns home

Riyadh: Saudi King Abdullah unveiled a series of benefits for Saudis estimated to be worth $35 billion on his return home on Wednesday from three months abroad for medical treatment.

The action plan, which includes funding to offset high inflation, to help young unemployed people and support families to get affordable housing, was made as popular protests over poverty, corruption and repression hit many Arab countries.

The king headed home Wednesday from Morocco where he had been recuperating after surgery in the United States, returning to a Middle East rocked by anti-regime uprisings.

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 neighbors Bahrain and Yemen are witnessing popular uprisings.

Hundreds of men in white robes performed a traditional Bedouin sword dance on special carpets laid out at Riyadh airport as they prepared to greet the monarch, thought to be 87.

Television presenters wore special scarves in the colours of the Saudi flag in special coverage termed "the joy of a nation" to mark the king's return.