A senior Saudi official said Tuesday that the health of King Fahd bin Abdel Aziz has greatly improved and can be expected to leave hospital "soon", the official SPA news agency reported.

"King Fahd is in good health. He is recovering and will be leaving hospital soon, God willing," Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz was quoted as saying.

Prince Nayef, who is a brother of the king, told a meeting of Gulf interior ministers in Riyadh that "his health thank God is as good as can be. Hopefully, he will leave the hospital in the next few days."

"I would like to reassure you that today in particular the improvement and progress was very big," he added.

On Monday, the kingdom's Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdel Aziz also told the weekly cabinet session that "medical tests showed that the health of King Fahd is stable and reassuring, thank God."

King Fahd was admitted at King Faisal hospital in Riyadh last Friday evening on May 27.

Saudi Arabia, which has the world's largest proven crude reserves, has been ruled by Crown Prince Abdullah Bin Abdul-aziz since 1995, when the health of the 83-year-old wheelchair-bound king has been frail since he suffered a stroke.

Source: Xinhua