Beirut, May 30 (IANS): A Saudi Arabian citizen was kidnapped in Beirut, Lebanese caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said.

Mawlawi said in a tweet that Lebanon will work "on liberating any citizens who are exposed to any harm on Lebanese soil", reports Xinhua news agency.

"What happened affects Lebanon's relationship with its brothers, and the perpetrators will be punished harshly," he noted.

The Saudi man was kidnapped from a neighbourhood close to the airport road in Beirut, the al-Jadeed TV reported.

The man works for Saudi Airlines in Beirut and the kidnappers demanded a ransom of $400,000 for his release in a phone call from the southern suburbs of Beirut, local news outlet L'Orient Today reported.

The Saudi embassy in Lebanon announced in a statement that it had received a report from the family of a citizen that they lost contact with him at dawn on Sunday.

Staff members of the embassy were instructed not to go out to streets.