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M. Continuo

Recalled Saudi ambassador returns to Egypt


    CAIRO (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Egypt returned to Cairo on Saturday, Egyptian airport officials said, almost a week after he was recalled in a rare diplomatic row between the long-time allies.

    Ambassador Ahmed Abdulaziz Kattan was withdrawn in response to street protests in Cairo against the arrest of an Egyptian lawyer in Saudi Arabia.

    Egypt sent a large parliamentary delegation to Riyadh this week to help rebuild ties with the Gulf kingdom which has promised $2.7 billion to support battered Egyptian finances.

    On Saturday, Saudi Arabia confirmed its plans to send aid.

    "We're taking procedures to execute the aid budget," Saudi Finance Minister Ibrahim Alassaf told reporters after a meeting of Gulf Arab finance ministers in Riyadh.

    Previously strong ties between Riyadh and Cairo were strained by last year's uprising in Egypt that overthrew President Hosni Mubarak who was close to the Saudi leadership.

    The rising power of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt has also worried many in the Gulf who fear the spread of its influence.

    (Additional reporting by Angus McDowall in Riyadh; Writing by Edmund Blair,; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)