Saudi prince flogged in court-ordered punishment: Newspaper

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 offense 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 spokesperson for the oil-rich Gulf kingdom's justice ministry was not immediately available for comment.

Saudi Arabia, a leading Arab ally of the United States and the birthplace of Islam, follows the strict Wahhabi Sunni Muslim school and gives the clergy control over its justice system.

A Saudi prince was executed in Riyadh on Oct 19 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.

Prince Turki bin Saud al-Kabir had pleaded guilty to shooting Adel al-Mohaimeed after a brawl, the ministry of interior said.

Saudi social media users interpreted the rare execution of a prince as a sign of equality under Islamic law.