The Saudi Press Agency says the 86-year-old King Abdullah arrived at the King Abdel Aziz medical compound in Riyadh on Sunday night to stabilize a vertebra in his back. The ailing king appeared in a picture using a walking stick, but otherwise apparently healthy.

No timing was given for the surgery.

Abdullah had two back surgeries late last year in New York City. Before he left for treatment in the United States in November 2010, Abdullah temporarily handed control of the kingdom over to Crown Prince Sultan, his 85-year-old half brother.