Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz received a top ranking Egyptian delegation, which arrived in the kingdom on a mission to defuse tension between the two countries. (SPA)

Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz ordered on Friday the return of the kingdom’s ambassador to Egypt and the reopening of the embassy and the consulates in Alexandria and Suez. The decision was announced after the monarch received a top ranking Egyptian delegation, which arrived in the kingdom Thursday on a mission to defuse tension. The Saudi monarch told the delegation in a speech aired by Saudi state television that the decision to recall the ambassador and shut down the embassy was to protect its staff from any ominous consequences. He proposed mass media of both sides cease communication campaigns to worsen the political crisis. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal told the delegation that Riyadh does not rule out that “foreign elements” could have plotted to cause the tension between the two Arab heavyweights. The move is considered a resumption of diplomatic ties between the two brotherly countries following Saudi Arabia’s withdrawal of its envoy.