A Saudi minister who was detained in a sweeping anti-government probe at a Riyadh hotel attended a cabinet meeting on Tuesday after he was "proven innocent", media reported. The official Saudi Press Agency posted on its Twitter account pictures of Saudi King Salman, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the minister, Ibrahim Assaf, at the meeting.

Saudi newspaper Sabq, which is close to the government, said that Assaf "resumed work" on Tuesday after being "recently proven innocent and leaving the Ritz-Carlton". Assaf, a minister of state and ex-finance minister, was among more than 200 princes, ministers and businessmen rounded up in November in a anti-corruption purge.

Most of those detained were held at the palatial Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh, which has turned into a luxury prison.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2018