Saudi king to address nation, issue decrees on Friday

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah will address the nation on Friday to issue a number of decrees, the royal court said in a statement released by the top oil producer's state news agency.

The speech by the king would be the first since returning to the kingdom nearly a month ago after three months of medical treatment in the United States for back treatment.

"The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques speaks tomorrow at two o'clock (1100 GMT) to the citizens and issue a number of decrees," the statement said, referring to the king's ceremonial title, according to Reuters.

The news agency gave no further details on the decrees, or what the king would say.

Saudi Arabia, a key U.S. ally, has mostly avoided the wide unrest that toppled rulers in Egypt and Tunisia and spread to other Gulf countries, but there are pockets of dissent in the absolute monarchy, which has no elected parliament.

Upon his return in late February, the king unveiled handouts worth an estimated $37 billion to ease social pressures.

With more than $400 billion in foreign reserves, Saudi Arabia is in a more comfortable position than other Arab countries to alleviate any social pressures such as high youth unemployment.