Following the heaviest rainfall in years, floods in Saudi Arabia have killed 77 people and many more could be missing.

A spokesman for the Saudi interior ministry said that there were no casualties among the millions attending the Hajj pilgrimage.

The start of the annual Muslim event in the city of Mecca was disturbed by the heavy rainstorms on Wednesday.

The H1N1 pandemic claimed four more lives of pilgrims in Saudi Arabia who were participating in the annual Mecca pilgrimage.

Health officials reported that they had not been vaccinated against the swine flu virus and came from Morocco, Sudan and Nigeria.

In a Saturday statement, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Health, Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, said that the kingdom does not plan to bar any ‘high-risk for swine flu’ pilgrim from performing the Hajj pilgrimage this year.

Washington  - Three Saudi detainees being held at the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba were returned to their homeland on Friday, the US Justice Department said.

Khalid Saad Mohammed, Abdalaziz Kareem Salim al-Noofayaee and Ahmed Zaid Salim Zuhair will be subject to judicial review in Saudi Arabia and will undergo a rehabilitation programme.

Riyadh - Saudi Arabian King Abdullah Bin Abdul-Aziz called on Thursday for an urgent national aid campaign for the people in Gaza, Saudi news agency reported.

Since the start of Israeli air strikes on Gaza on Saturday, some 400 people have died and more than 2,100 have been injured.

Riyadh - The oil-rich Gulf state of Saudi Arabia recorded its highest-ever budget surplus in 2008, but expects a deficit in 2009 as oil prices fall, a Saudi-owned television channel reported on Monday.

Riyadh - An eight-year-old girl seeking divorce from a man about 50 years her senior will have to wait until February for a legal ruling after a Saudi Arabian judge decided not to render a verdict Saturday.

Somalia, Dec. 1 -- The Saudi Arabian supertanker hijacked by Somali pirates Nov. 15 will be released within the next two days, diplomatic officials said Monday.