Germany says it hopes Saudi ambassador will soon return to Berlin

BERLIN (Reuters) - The German government hopes that the Saudi ambassador will return to Berlin soon, a government spokesman said on Wednesday, after a prolonged diplomatic row prompted the kingdom to pull its ambassador from the German capital.

The spokesman said Saudi Arabia was an important partner in the region that Germany wanted to cooperate with. He added that the Saudi foreign minister had invited German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas to Riyadh.

(Reporting by Riham Alkousaa; Writing by Tassilo Hummel; Editing by Michelle Martin)