Saudi prince flogged in court-ordered punishment

A prince of Saudi Arabia's ruling Al Saud family was given lashes in a prison in Jeddah as a court-ordered punishment, a Saudi newspaper reported on Wednesday, less than a month after the kingdom executed another prince for murder.

The brief report in Okaz daily did not disclose the offence for which he was being punished but said the unidentified prince was also ordered to serve a prison sentence.

The flogging was carried out by a policeman on Monday after medical checks to ensure the prince was healthy, the paper added.

A Saudi prince was executed in Riyadh on 19 October after a court found him guilty of shooting dead a fellow Saudi, official media reported, in what Saudis said was the first execution of a prince since the 1970s.