A Saudi national who had been kidnapped in Beirut has been freed in a "special operation" by the Lebanese army near the Syrian border, it said in a statement.

"An army intelligence patrol managed to free kidnapped Saudi national Mashari al Mutairi during a special operation on the Syrian border," the army said on Tuesday.

"A number of those involved in the kidnapping were also arrested," it added.

A senior Lebanese security source said, based on preliminary information, the Saudi was kidnapped by unidentified assailants dressed as security personnel in a vehicle on the Beirut seafront, where he had been in a restaurant.

State-run Saudi TV station Al-Ekhbariya said that the kidnappers demanded a $400,000 ransom for al Mutairi, who works for Saudi national airlines Saudia.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati congratulated the army on the "great effort deployed to release him and arrest those involved in the kidnapping."

Lebanese Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi also said in a Twitter post that al Mutairi is currently with the intelligence authorities and the authorities are in close contact with Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Beirut Walid al Bukhari.

Kidnapping of foreign nationals

Mikati said in comments released by his office that the government is determined to guarantee the security of its citizens as well as foreigners.

Kidnappings of Arab or foreign nationals in Lebanon have been rare in recent years, with the last one occurring in July 2022, when a Saudi was abducted on arrival at Beirut airport.

Since 2021, Saudi citizens have had to obtain their government's permission before travelling to Lebanon because of strained diplomatic ties between the two countries.

Saudi Arabia returned its ambassador to Beirut in April 2022, just over five months after recalling him amid a diplomatic dispute pitting Lebanon against several Gulf monarchies.

Relations between Beirut and the Gulf Arab states had become strained in the face of the growing influence in Lebanon of the pro-Iranian Shia movement Hezbollah.