Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah on Saturday sacked the deputy defense minister, Prince Khaled bin Bandar bin Abdul Aziz, just a month and a half after appointing him.

A royal decree cited by the official SPA news agency said the decision was taken at the request of Crown Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz, who also holds the defense portfolio.

Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting, will begin on Sunday in Saudi Arabia, the state-run Al-Ekhbariya television channel reported on Friday.

Citing the authorities, it said that because the crescent moon was unable to be seen with the naked eye on Friday, Ramadan would begin on Sunday.

Human Rights Watch on Friday demanded a clarification from Saudi Arabia over allegations from security researchers that the kingdom is infecting and monitoring dissidents' mobile phones with surveillance malware.

The New York-based rights watchdog said surveillance software allegedly made by Italian firm Hacking Team mostly targeted individuals in Qatif district in Eastern Province, which has been the site of sporadic Shiite-led protests since February 2011.

Syrian rebels can help push back jihadists in Iraq, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday as Washington unveiled plans to boost Syria's opposition with $500 million in arms and training.

The top U.S. diplomat, who landed in the Red Sea city of Jeddah in the afternoon, also met Saudi King Abdullah a day after hosting urgent talks in Paris with the Saudi, Jordanian and UAE foreign ministers on the widening crisis in Iraq and Syria.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Saudi Arabia Friday to meet the Syrian opposition as Washington unveiled plans to provide some $500 million in arms and training to the rebels.

The top U.S. diplomat, who landed in the Red Sea city of Jeddah in the afternoon, will also meet Saudi King Abdullah, a day after hosting urgent talks in Paris with the Saudi, Jordanian and UAE foreign ministers to discuss the widening crisis in Iraq and Syria.

Saudi security officials are expected to visit Beirut to identify the suicide bomber who blew himself up at Duroy Hotel in Beirut's Raouche area on Wednesday, pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat reported.

The newspaper quoted a Saudi security official as saying on Friday that the delegation would bring with it DNA samples to confirm the identity of the bomber.

Saudi King Abdullah instructed authorities in the oil-rich kingdom Thursday to take "necessary measures" to defend the country from jihadists battling the government in neighboring Iraq.

The announcement comes days after militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) seized the border crossing from Iraq into Jordan, which also neighbors the kingdom, as they press an offensive in Iraq.

Saudi authorities threatened Thursday to expel non-Muslim foreigners who eat, drink or smoke in public during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which begins this weekend.

The interior ministry urged non-Muslims to "respect the feelings of Muslims by refraining from eating, drinking or smoking in public places, streets and at work."

Saudi authorities beheaded Wednesday two nationals convicted of raping minors in two separate cases, in one of which the culprit killed the victim, the interior ministry said.

Hamad bin Meshehen al-Rashidi was found guilty of kidnapping and raping a seven-year-old boy before throwing him into a well and killing him, the ministry said in a statement carried by SPA state news agency.

Rights group Amnesty International has condemned a Saudi court decision to jail an activist for seven years, labeling the charges as "spurious" and urging that the sentence be quashed.

A court in Riyadh passed the sentence on Fowzan al-Harbi on Tuesday and also banned him from traveling for a further seven years, Amnesty said in a statement.