RIYADH, 16 December — Officials of the anti-beggary department in the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs arrested 5,579 beggars of various nationalities from Riyadh city over a period of 45 days beginning from Oct. 1. The arrests were made as part of the department’s efforts to eliminate the menace, said a senior official at the ministry. According to the ministry figures, there were 2,526 non-Saudi and 225 Saudi male beggars among them. The number of Saudi female beggars was 403 and non-Saudi females was 1,128. There were 83 Saudi boys and 152 girls while the numbers of non-Saudi boys and girls were 695 and 367 respectively.