A Saudi court on Monday upheld a 10-year jail sentence and 1,000 lashes against Raef Badawi, founder of a liberal human rights group, for insulting Islam, an activist said.

He had been convicted of "creating a website insulting Islam" and criticizing the role of the notorious religious police "which we all do" in Saudi Arabia, the rights group's co-founder, Suad al-Shamari, told Agence France-Presse.

Saudi Arabia's crown prince arrived in Paris Monday for talks with President Francois Hollande likely to touch on a Saudi-financed French package of arms for Lebanon and the wider jihadist threat in the region.

Salman bin Abdul Aziz, who is also deputy prime minister and defense minister, will meet Hollande on Monday and will be treated to an official dinner at the Elysee presidential palace.

Members of Saudi Arabia's religious police roughed up a British resident of Riyadh after they caught him paying at a women-only cash desk, local media reported on Monday.

Saudi Arabia imposes a strict interpretation of Islamic laws, notably a segregation of the sexes.

Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq is expected to visit Moscow on September 18 to sign a deal to buy military equipment for the Internal Security Forces, al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Monday.

Lebanon will buy the equipment from a recently announced $1 billion Saudi grant to Lebanon, it said.

Gulf Arab monarchies said Saturday they were ready to help counter advances by jihadists in Syria and Iraq, after the U.S. called for a global coalition to fight the militants.

But the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council said it was awaiting details from Washington and a visit to the region by U.S. Secretary of State Department John Kerry to discuss anti-jihadist cooperation.

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has warned that the West will be the next target of the jihadists sweeping through Syria and Iraq, unless there is "rapid" action.

Saudi Arabia's crown prince will next week visit France and hold talks with French leaders that will touch on the threat posed by Islamic State militants, presidency sources in Paris said Thursday.

Salman bin Abdul Aziz, who is also deputy prime minister and defense minister of Saudi Arabia, will meet President Francois Hollande on Monday and will be treated to an official dinner at the Elysee presidential palace.

Saudi Arabia's top Sunni cleric warned Muslim youths to steer clear of "calls for jihad" issued on "perverted" grounds, the official SPA news agency reported Thursday.

"Young people should not let themselves be influenced by calls for jihad ... on perverted principles," said Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh, quoted by SPA.

High-ranking Saudi envoys held talks with the Qatari emir on Wednesday after months of strained relations over Doha's support for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Libya and Syria.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, intelligence chief Prince Khaled bin Bandar, and Interior Minister Nayef bin Abdulaziz met with Qatar's emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani in Doha, the official Qatari News Agency said.

Saudi authorities on Wednesday beheaded three citizens after they were convicted of murder in separate cases, the interior ministry announced, bringing to 41 the number of executions there this year.