Saudi Arabia on Wednesday asked the U.N. Security Council to put Hizbullah on its list of "terrorist organizations," although the Lebanese group was not included in the terror blacklist recently issued by the kingdom.

"We call on the council to place Hizbullah on the list of terrorist organizations," Saudi envoy to the Security Council Abdullah al-Muallemi said.

Saudi Arabia executed on Wednesday a man who donned women's clothing in a bid to escape after shooting dead a soldier and police officer, state media said.

Salih bin Yateem bin Salih al-Qarni was beheaded in the southwestern city of Abha, the official Saudi Press Agency said.

Egypt on Wednesday hailed a "new era" in Arab solidarity after Gulf states agreed to welcome Qatar back to the fold following a row over its support for Islamists.

Cairo said it offered its full support to the reconciliation move, which it described as a "huge step towards Arab solidarity."

Saudi King Abdullah urged Egypt on Wednesday to support Qatar's return to the Arab fold, days after Gulf states resolved a diplomatic spat over Doha's alleged support for the Muslim Brotherhood.

"I urge Egypt, the people and leadership, to seek with us the success of this (reconciliation) move as part of Arab solidarity," the king said, quoted by the official SPA news agency.

Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Qatar has resumed his duties in Doha eight months after being withdrawn in an unprecedented diplomatic spat between Gulf states, media reports said on Tuesday.

Riyadh, Abu Dhabi and Manama all withdrew their envoys to Doha in March, sparking one of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council's worst diplomatic rows since its creation in 1981.

Saudi Arabia on Tuesday beheaded a Syrian convicted of drug trafficking, official media said, bringing to 68 the number of people executed this year despite international concern.

"Talal Ali Qassem was captured smuggling a large quantity of methamphetamine. Investigations led to his confession," the official Saudi Press Agency reported, citing the interior ministry.

A spat over Qatar's alleged support for the Muslim Brotherhood that alienated other nations in the six-country Gulf Cooperation Council appears to have been resolved because of major regional challenges.

Possible concessions by Doha may also have paved the way in overcoming the unprecedented dispute.

Britain's Prince Andrew, the second son of Queen Elizabeth II, was in Saudi Arabia on Monday to reinforce longstanding ties between the kingdoms, the British embassy said.

The visit came at the request of the British government and would focus on "cooperation and partnership in a number of fields," including provision of healthcare, vocational education and entrepreneurship, the embassy official told AFP.

A top Saudi Arabian official who begins a visit to the United States on Tuesday will seek to strengthen support for the kingdom's powerful National Guard forces, official media said.

The Guard is a parallel army of around 200,000 men whose duties include combating "terrorism".

Gulf leaders agreed Sunday to return Saudi, Emirati, and Bahraini envoys to Qatar, ending eight months of tense relations with the gas-rich state over its support for the Muslim Brotherhood.

Earlier, leaders including the emirs of Kuwait and Qatar, the king of Bahrain and the UAE vice president arrived in Saudi Arabia for a previously unannounced summit aimed at resolving their differences.