A Saudi found guilty of drug trafficking and a convicted murderer were beheaded by the sword on Friday in the conservative Muslim kingdom, the interior ministry announced.

The ministry, in statements carried by state news agency SPA, said Eid al-Umairi, found guilty of having dealt with "large quantities of amphetamines", was executed in the northwestern city of Tabuk.

Speaker Nabih Berri has urged the Lebanese authorities to deal with the Syrian encampments “differently” after many gunmen taking refuge there joined militants last weekend and took over the northeastern border town of Arsal.

“From now on, we should deal with the refugee encampments differently and not to tolerate” the presence of armed men there, Berri was quoted as saying by several newspapers that hit the newsstands on Friday.

The cabinet hailed on Thursday the army for protecting Lebanon against the assault of jihadists from Syria in the northeastern town of Arsal, announcing that it has approved an increase in the number of army and security forces recruits.

Information Minister Ramzi Jreij announced that the cabinet approved the increase of recruits by 12,000.

Saudi authorities beheaded a Yemeni Thursday for raping and murdering two women, the interior ministry said.

Awadha Ahmed Salem was convicted of raping and killing the unidentified women and burning the corpse of one of them with acid, the ministry said in a statement carried by SPA state news agency.

Several Lebanese officials lauded on Thursday Saudi Arabia for granting Lebanon additional financial aid to help it combat security threats.

Kataeb Party leader Amin Gemayel expressed concern in an interview with Saudi newspaper Okaz over the enormous challenges confronting Lebanon, considering that the second Saudi financial deal didn't surprise him.

Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji expressed gratitude on Thursday for the support that Saudi Arabia offers to Lebanon and in particular the military, considering it to be the main reason behind “thwarting conspiracy schemes and maintaining stability in Lebanon.”

“The generous aid (for the Lebanese army) came at the appropriate time,” Qahwaji said in an interview with the Saudi newspaper Okaz.

Saudi men have been banned from marrying women from three Asian and one African country as the Gulf state toughens the rules restricting marriage with foreigners, a local daily said.

Marrying women from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Myanmar and Chad is no longer permissible, Makkah newspaper reported.

Saudi Arabia has provided Lebanon's army with one billion dollars to strengthen security, al-Mustaqbal movement leader and ex-Prime Minister Saad Hariri told reporters in Jeddah on Wednesday, accusing Hizbullah of being partly responsible for the clashes between troops and jihadists in the northeastern border region of Arsal.

King Abdullah "has informed me of his generous decision to provide the Lebanese army... with one billion dollars to strengthen its capabilities to preserve Lebanon's security," Hariri told reporters in Jeddah.

Senior officials held a meeting at the residence of former President Michel Suleiman in Yarze, the state-run National News Agency reported on Wednesday.

The meeting, which was held on Tuesday evening, gathered Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi, Prime Minister Tammam Salam, head of al-Mustaqbal Parliamentary bloc Fouad Saniora and Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat.

Saudi Ambassador Ali Awadh Asiri has said that Riyadh's pledge to assist the Lebanese army in December was not mere ink on paper.

“I will reiterate to (army chief) Gen. Jean Qahwaji Riyadh's support for the Lebanese army,” Asiri told As Safir newspaper published on Wednesday.