Riyadh  - Saudi Arabian King Abdullah Bin Abdul-Aziz called on Thursday for an urgent national aid campaign for the people in Gaza, Saudi news agency reported.

Since the start of Israeli air strikes on Gaza on Saturday, some 400 people have died and more than 2,100 have been injured.

King Abdullah said that the aid campaign will be supervised by Saudi Minister of Interior Naif bin Abdul-Aziz.

Saudi Arabia has sent aid planes with medicine to Gaza. It also allocated special planes to evacuate the injured from Gaza to Saudi hospitals for treatment.

Saudi Arabia and other US allied Arab states such as Egypt and Jordan have come under fire in the Arab world for not doing enough to help Gaza.

Riyadh - A prominent Saudi Arabian Muslim cleric who called for attacks on Israelis worldwide in retaliation for the ongoing airstrikes on the Gaza Strip has been arrested, Saudi media reported on Wednesday.

Sheikh Awad al-Qarni issued a fatwa, or religious ruling, on Monday saying that "it is legitimate to spill (Israeli) blood as long as they are spilling the blood of our brothers in Palestine."

The report in the al-Rasad newspaper said that al-Qarni had been arrested in the south of the country and had been brought to the capital Riyadh. Police would not confirm the arrest.

New Delhi, Dec 26 : Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal, who arrived here today said that his country has proposed to the United Nations to form an international body to fight terrorism across the globe.

After holding talks with his Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee, Al-Faisal said that all countries should work together to stop such attacks that were witnessed in Mumbai.

"As a matter of fact, Saudi Arabia has a proposal that we made to the United Nations to create a special body for the international community to come together and fight terrorism," he added.

Dubai, Dec 24 : The England team was fined for maintaining a slow over-rate during its six-wicket defeat against India in the first Test played in Chennai between 11 and 15 December.

Jeff Crowe of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees imposed the fines after Kevin Pietersen's side was ruled to be one over short of its target when time allowances were taken into consideration.

Dubai, Dec. 15 : The International Cricket Council has announced it is seeking requests for proposals (RFPs) from qualified companies interested in providing specialist audio-visual archive management services.

The successful company will work closely with the ICC to market and manage footage from various cricket events, including the ICC Cricket World Cup, the ICC Champions Trophy and the ICC World Twenty20.

Riyadh - Three prisoners sentenced to death escaped Malas prison in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh after attacking a prison guard, an official Saudi source said on Wednesday.

Most prison guards were busy checking visitors to the prison during the first day of the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha.

The three prisoners seized the opportunity to escape after threatening a prison guard with a knife.

The brother of one of the escaped prisoners was waiting for them in a car outside the prison, the Saudi Arabian al-Sabq online paper reported.

One of the escaped prisoners, who suffered from hypertension and diabetes, fell before he reached the gate, the paper said.