The people of Saudi Arabia have raised more than £43m (€61.2m) for the tsunami victims in Asia in a telethon staged by the government after accusations that the oil-rich kingdom was not doing enough for those affected.

When Briton Hemant Lakhani was arrested over a year ago it was hailed as a victory in the war on terror.

Time was running out tonight for an American hostage facing death in Saudi Arabia.

SECURITY forces were desperately hunting yesterday for a US hostage facing death within hours at the hands of terrorists in Saudi Arabia.

Security forces were desperately hunting today for an American hostage facing death within hours at the hands of terrorists in Saudi Arabia.

Libya’s return to the international fold was under threat today amid claims that leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi approved plans to assassinate the ruler of Saudi Arabia.

Tens of European, US and other hostages were released today and a gunmen believed to be the lead Islamic militant holding them was arrested, a Saudi security official said, adding that two other gunmen were “in the process of being arrested”.

SAUDI Arabia vowed yesterday to strike with an iron fist at militants who attacked a Saudi Arabian petrochemical site and pledged every effort to protect foreigners, five of whom died in the shooting spree.

TERRORISTS yesterday targeted Saudi police headquarters in the capital Riyadh with a suicide bomb attack that killed at least four people.

THE newly-appointed assistant to the chief of Saudi Arabia’s intelligence services has accused Qatar’s Al-Jazeera satellite channel of inciting terrorism.

The United States reopened its diplomatic missions in Saudi Arabia today, a week after they closed because of terrorist threats.

Faced with furious criticism from the US and Europe over Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s assertion that Jews rule the world, Malaysia apologised today for any misunderstanding and claimed that no offence was intended.

Saudi Arabia’s highest religious body has condemned violence by Islamic militants and deemed helping terrorists “one of the greatest sins.”

Saudi police arrested at least 11 suspected militants and seized a large weapons cache in the south of the kingdom, reports said today.

US President George Bush called on Arab leaders today to fight terror at every turn on the road to peace.

THREE al-Qaida suspects arrested in Saudi Arabia this week planned to hijack a plane from the southwestern port city of Jiddah, Saudi security officials said, in what appeared to be a plot for a suicide attack.

FBI agents were arriving in Saudi Arabia today amid a row between Washington and the kingdom over security at the residential compounds attacked on Monday night by suspected al-Qaida suicide bombers.

An Irish woman is believed to have been killed in the Saudi suicide bomb attacks that investigators have blamed on Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida terror group.

AMERICAN troops yesterday made what could be a crucial intelligence discovery - thousands of microfilm cartridges and hundreds of files in a Ba’ath Party enclave in central Baghdad.

Libya today recalled its ambassador to Saudi Arabia for consultations following a heated and public exchange of insults between Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi and Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah at an Arab summit.

White House officials, trying to build a case for action against Iraq, are warning that the world can’t afford to wait to see whether Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction.

Cameroon coach Winfried Schafer is expecting a Saudi Arabia backlash on Thursday following one of the most humiliating results in the country’s history.

The Israeli army has mounted yet another invasion into the West Bank, this time entering Qalqiliya and three nearby villages to search for suspected Islamic militants.

Colin Powell’s disappointing Mideast peace mission is prompting painful soul searching in Washington about what can be done to keep Israeli-Palestinian violence from hurtling into all-out war.

A suicide bomber killed at least 19 people and injured more than 120 when he burst into a hotel dining room and blew himself up as Israelis dressed in their holiday best were sitting down to a meal celebrating the Jewish Passover.

A Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up in an Israeli hotel dining room today killing at least 15 people and wounding a more than 100 others.

Saudi Arabia's foreign minister has offered Israel 'complete peace from Arab nations' in exchange for Israeli withdrawal from Arab lands and the creation of an independent Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital.

Syrian President Bashar Assad has declared his support for the Saudi-proposed peace plan to end the Middle East conflict.

A Palestinian gunman opened fire at a Tel Aviv restaurant early today, killing three people and wounding 31, four seriously, before he was shot dead, police said, the latest in a spiral of attacks and counterattacks by Palestinians and Israeli forces.

Israeli forces clashed with Palestinians today at a refugee camp and entered a town after a woman suicide bomber blew herself up at an Israeli army checkpoint in the West Bank.

A Palestinian cabinet minister has called on the United States to give its full support to a new Middle East peace initiative drawn up by the Saudi Arabian authorities.

The Western allies must show genuine commitment to getting the Middle Eastern peace process back on track if they are to maintain Muslim support for military action in Afghanistan, Prime Minister Tony Blair said today.