Five Britons have been detained in Saudi Arabia over alcohol-related offences, but British consular officials have been unable to visit two of them since the arrests in early December, a Foreign Office spokeswoman said Tuesday.
She said the men had so far not been formally charged.
Saudi officials have been investigating a series of car-bomb attacks against British nationals which killed one Briton and injured five other people, all westerners, in the country in November and December.
A Saudi press report said in December that the attacks, which have come at a time of anti-Western sentiment due to the Middle East conflict, could have been linked to the allegations of drink-trafficking, which have surfaced in the Saudi press.
It was not known whether the arrests were related to these allegations.
The Foreign Office spokeswoman said three of the five Britons arrested -- Ron Yates, David Mornin and Kelvin Hawkins -- had been seen by consular officials, and said they were well and were being treated well.
"But we want to see all of them," she added. The other two men were named as Paul Moss and Ken Hartley.
She said all five were being investigated for "alcohol-related offences," but that it was not known whether the offences involved only the consumption of alcohol, or its production or supply -- LONDON (AFP)
