Sawt Falasteen - Ailing King Harald back home in Norway from Malaysia

Norway's state broadcaster showed footage of his plane landing just before 11:00 pm (2200 GMT) in the capital, Oslo.

"His Majesty the King arrived in Norway this evening," said a palace statement. The flight had gone well and the king was recovering, it added.

The oldest reigning monarch in Europe at 87 years old, Harald contracted an infection on a trip to the island of Langkawi and was admitted to hospital on Tuesday.

The palace said on Saturday that he had been fitted with a "temporary" pacemaker, which his personal physician said would make his return safer.

Sunday's palace statement said the king would be hospitalised in Oslo for further checks and several days' rest.

"His Majesty will be on sick leave for two weeks," said an earlier palace statement.

A medical plane believed to be transporting the king had taken off from Langkawi on Sunday afternoon, after police escorted a convoy that included an ambulance from the hospital to the airport, an AFP journalist saw.

Harald needs crutches to get around and has suffered a series of health issues in recent years.

He caught a respiratory infection in January, days after dismissing speculation that he might abdicate, following the lead of distant cousin Queen Margrethe II in Denmark.

In his absence, Crown Prince Haakon, 50, has stepped in as regent.

B.AbuZeid--SF-PST