Born in Syria, Husseini was raised in Saudi Arabia, where his father was a government official whose family took on Saudi citizenship.

Ghadry, because of his father's work, was granted Saudi citizenship.

Mr. Hariri, a 48-year-old billionaire, made his fortune in Saudi Arabia and holds Saudi and Lebanese citizenship.

They are not allowed to hold or even apply for Saudi citizenship, because of Arab League instructions barring the Arab states from granting them citizenship.

In 1994, Riyadh revoked his Saudi citizenship.

The Saudi move has resulted in some Yemeni families being painfully divided, since many of them obtained Saudi citizenship a decade ago when it was possible.

According to Saudi law, a child whose mother is Saudi and father is non-Saudi is not granted Saudi citizenship.

The Saudis have sought to portray the emergence of Mr. bin Laden, who was stripped of his Saudi citizenship in 1994, as an alien development.

In response, in 1994 Fahd stripped bin Laden of his Saudi citizenship and persuaded his family to cut off his $7 million a year stipend.

Saudi's teams are limited to four players without Saudi citizenship.