SAUDI CLOSES HOTEL DETENTION CENTRE

RIYADH: Saudi closes hotel detention centre as corruption purge winds down.

Saudi Arabian authorities have released all remaining detainees from Riyadh's opulent Ritz-Carlton Hotel, which had been used as an interrogation centre in a crackdown on corruption, a Saudi official said on Tuesday.

The news signaled that the three-month-purge, in which dozens of top officials and businessmen were detained by investigators who said the aimed to seize $100 billion of illicit assets, was drawing to a close.

''There are no longer any detainees left at the Ritz-Carlton,'' the official told Reuters, speaking on conditions of anonymity under briefing rules.

He did not say how many suspects remained in detention at other locations in Saudi Arabia.

Some are believed to have been moved from the  Ritz Carlton to prison after refusing to admit wrongdoing and reach financial settlements with the authorities.

Last week, the Attorney General said that countrywide most detainees had agreed to settlements, and  90 had been released after charges were dropped, and 95 remained in custody.

Some cases will go to trial.

[Agencies]