Speaker Nabih Berri stressed on Thursday that any consensus between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Saudi Arabia would reflect Lebanon positively, denying that he was asked to mediate between the two countries.

“The Iranian leadership is wise and knows what it wants and what benefits its people and the region,” Berri said in comments published in local newspapers.

Ethiopia has flown home over 50,000 citizens in Saudi Arabia after a crackdown against illegal immigrants in the oil-rich state, the foreign ministry said Wednesday.

"We projected the initial number to be 10,000 but it is increasing," foreign ministry spokesman Dina Mufti told Agence France Presse, adding that the final total once the mass airlift ends is now expected to be around 80,000.

Saudi authorities beheaded on Tuesday a Pakistani man convicted of smuggling drugs to the ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom, the interior ministry said.

The man was found guilty of attempting to smuggle an undisclosed amount of heroin that he had swallowed, the ministry said in a statement carried by SPA state news agency.

The list of participants for a long-awaited Syria peace conference scheduled for January 22 has yet to be established, U.N. and Arab League mediator Lakhdar Brahimi said Monday.

Pressed on who might take part in the so-called Geneva II talks, announced Monday, Brahimi said: "We haven't established a list yet."

Saudi Arabia cautiously welcomed on Monday a nuclear deal reached between Iran and world powers, saying "good intentions" could lead to a comprehensive agreement on Tehran's controversial atomic program.

"This agreement could be a first step towards a comprehensive solution for Iran's nuclear program, if there are good intentions," the government said in a statement.

A Saudi court on Monday sentenced to death an al-Qaida member convicted of a 2004 attack on the U.S. consulate in Jeddah, in which five people were killed.

The special security tribunal sentenced 19 others to up to 25 years in jail over various charges, including supporting the attack on the U.S. mission and plotting other "terrorist attacks," SPA state news agency said.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati is expected to kick off a tour to Arab and European countries to urge them to commit to their financial pledges to share the burden of the displaced Syrians, who have put a severe strain on Lebanon's economy.

Miqati, according to An Nahar newspaper published on Monday, will make Qatar his first stop of the tour, which will include Kuwait also.

The Saudi health ministry on Sunday announced a new MERS death, raising to 55 the number of people killed by the coronavirus in the country with the most fatalities.

A 37-year-old Saudi man died in Riyadh, the ministry said on its website.

Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz held talks on Saturday with Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah al-Jaber al-Sabah and Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.

Sources told Naharnet that a Kuwaiti mediation succeed in rectifying the ties between Saudi Arabia and Qatar after disputes on regional developments.

Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awadh Asiri thanked Lebanese officials who voiced their commitment to ensuring the safety of his country's embassy in Beirut in light of the kingdom's advisory to its citizens to leave Lebanon, reported the Saudi newspaper Okaz on Saturday.

He told the daily: “The embassy has not received any threats and Lebanon is a fraternal state.”