The majority of prisoners (59) are in Jordan, followed by Syria (18), Lebanon (9), Egypt and Morocco (5 each), the report said.

The Council of Ministers recently took a decision to pay the financial dues of Saudi prisoners in foreign countries.

Saudi Arabia has also signed bilateral agreements with a number of countries, including Germany, Egypt, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait for the transfer of prisoners and to help them serve the remaining period of their jail sentences in their respective countries.

Muhammad Al-Bishr, Saudi ambassador in Morocco, said the embassy takes care of Saudi prisoners in Moroccan jails. “Our representatives visit them twice or thrice monthly to inquire about their conditions and help them contact their families back home.”

Majdi Mansour, head of the department for citizens at the Saudi Embassy in Cairo, said efforts are under way to get Saudi prisoners in Egyptian jails transferred to the Kingdom. “We have already succeeded in transferring three prisoners from Egypt,” he added.

One Saudi prisoner in Egypt had paid fines worth SR100,000 to win his release.

Abdul Monem Mahmoud, a senior official at the Saudi Embassy in Damascus, said most of the 18 Saudi prisoners in Syria were held on drug trafficking charges. One of these prisoners has been sentenced to 10 years while another to eight years.

The Saudi prisoners in Jordan are spread across six jails. “We are making efforts to transfer them to Saudi prisons,” said Ali Al-Abbad, head of media affairs at the Saudi Embassy in Amman.

He said the embassy extends financial assistance to the prisoners. There are nine Saudi political prisoners in Lebanon, said Kamal Al-Abdali who is in charge of citizens' affairs at the Saudi Embassy in Beirut.

Meanwhile, a number of Saudis are detained in the GCC countries of Bahrain, Kuwait and the UAE for allegedly violating traffic regulations. Authorities in the UAE looked into traffic cases involving 43 Saudis last month and have asked them to pay fines worth more than SR1 million.