“On the recommendation of the medical team treating him, Prince Salman will rest for a few days outside the Kingdom for recuperation,” said the statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency.

Prince Salman left the hospital last week and received telephone calls from a number of Arab leaders, including President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and President Omar Bashir of Sudan.

Salman became the governor of Riyadh in 1962. During the past five decades, he has supervised and encouraged the expansive growth of the city from a middle-sized town into a major urban metropolis.