A Saudi court has jailed seven protesters for up to 20 years for joining a demonstration and chanting anti-government slogans in a mostly Shiite region of the kingdom, local media reported Thursday.

The Eastern Province, where Qatif is located, was the site of frequent Shiite-led protests between February 2011 and August 2012.

Britain's Prince Charles, dressed in a traditional Saudi robe and a checkered red and white keffiyeh, joined members of Saudi Arabia's royal family in performing the "Ardah" sword dance near Riyadh.

Charles, who arrived Monday on his second visit to the kingdom in a year, swayed his sword to the rhythm of drumbeats at the annual cultural and heritage Al-Janadriya festival, late on Tuesday near Riyadh.

Britain has reached an agreement over the rising cost of providing Saudi Arabia with Typhoon Eurofighter jets, British defense company BAE Systems said on Wednesday.

BAE, working in close co-operation with the British government, signed a £4.5-billion deal in 2007 to supply 72 Eurofighter Typhoon jets to Saudi Arabia. Even though some planes have been delivered, the contract has faced obstacles over rising costs.

The formation of Tammam Salam's cabinet is expected to lead to a series of agreements among the Lebanese arch-foes, in particular regarding the conflict in the neighboring country Syria.

A diplomatic source expressed optimism in comments published in An Nahar newspaper on Wednesday that the newly appointed government would be able to draft its ministerial policy statement swiftly.

Speaker Nabih Berri revealed on Tuesday that he urged Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah to mediate between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Saudi Arabia to end the political rift, pointing out that explosions in Lebanon aim at creating sectarian tension between its citizens.

“I called on all Gulf countries, in particular, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed to mediate between Iran and Saudi Arabia,” Berri said in comments to the Kuwaiti al-Rai television.

Saudi Arabia, which supports the rebels in Syria, on Monday blamed the Damascus government for the failure of peace talks in Geneva last week.

A second round of U.S. and Russian-backed peace talks between regime representatives and the opposition broke down on Saturday in the Swiss city with no date set for a third round.

Saudi Arabia says a Saudi man has died from a new respiratory virus related to SARS, bringing to 60 the number of deaths in the kingdom at the center of the outbreak.

The Health Ministry said that the man died in a Riyadh hospital on Sunday.

An African migrant was killed in an altercation with police in a suburb of the western Saudi city of Jeddah over the weekend, a police spokesman said Sunday.

Lieutenant Nawaf al-Buq said the incident took place Saturday as police were checking the IDs of a group of migrants suspected of being in the country illegally.

President Michel Suleiman urged on Sunday the International Support Group for Lebanon to meet its pledges during meetings expected to be held in France and Italy.

“The international cover should be provided to enable the Lebanese army to acquire its needs through Saudi Arabia's grant to the military to obtain French arms,” Suleiman said during a telephone conversation with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Russia and Egypt are nearing a $3-billion arms purchase agreement that will be financed by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, a Moscow newspaper reported on Friday.

The two sides have already either "initialed or signed" contracts for Egypt's purchase of Mig-29 fighters, air and coastal defense systems, Mi-35 attack helicopters and smaller arms, the Vedomosti daily quoted two Russian government sources as saying.