RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Saudi Arabian King Abdullah returned to the world's top oil exporter on Wednesday after spending three months abroad for medical treatment, state television said.

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.

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

Prior to his return on Wednesday, Abdullah boosted social benefits for civil servants, students and others, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said.

The king ordered the implementation of a 15 percent pay rise for state employees as well as an increase in the cash available for Saudi housing loans, according to SPA, the official news agency.

The 86-year-old monarch also granted pardons to some prisoners indicted in financial crimes and announced plans to tackle unemployment.

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

Abdullah's health has been the subject of intense speculation, especially since the man tipped to succeed him is also elderly, the BBC reported.

His half-brother Crown Prince Sultan - who is in his eighties and has been in poor health - has been in charge during his absence.

The monarch's return was also welcomed by the Saudi media.

"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."

Saudi television reported that Bahrain's King Hamad was also flying into Riyadh on Wednesday.

The small state on Saudi Arabia's eastern border has seen more than a week of protests.

AFP-Reuters