According to Saudi Press Agency (SPA), 28 al Qaeda militants have been arrested by the security forces. The militants are suspects for plotting attacks in the kingdom.

An official at the Interior Ministry said on Sunday that they began to detain them since mid-December, Voice of America reports.

He also said that they were arrested in Mecca, Madina, Riyadh and in a region near the country’s northern borders.

Of the 28 suspects one is a foreigner and the others are Saudi nationals.

The announcement said: "The (public) interest requires that further details be withheld for the time being," Reuters informs.

On Friday Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television said that Saudi authorities have arrested an unspecified number of militants that are suspects for planning attacks during the Muslim hajj pilgrimage.

Almost 3 million people came to the kingdom for the annual hajj. The pilgrimage ended Friday.

Saudi Arabia has been the target of militants in 2003. In 1979 militants who were against the royal family took control of Mecca's Grand Mosque.

The arrest of the 208 men last month had nothing to do with the hajj, according to Interior Minister Prince Nayef. Apparently the men were planning attacks against the oil infrastructure.

The hajj is of the biggest display in the world of mass religious affection and has seen in previous years like fires, hotel collapses, fights between police and protesters.