Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki.

Saudi Arabia has denied a report that appeared in a London-based publication on Friday saying that it busted a cell that was operating with the aim of serving Qatari interests.

Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki, Interior Ministry spokesman, said in a statement on Saturday that the report was baseless.

The “Al-Arab” pan-Arab newspaper quoted a Saudi security source on Friday as saying that a cell operating in the Kingdom on social networking sites in the interest of a Turkish-Qatari scheme was stopped.

The British publication also said that two Saudis and a Qatari who had received aid and instructions from outside the Kingdom, especially from Qatar, were detained, the Saudi Press Agency reported. “There is no basis whatsoever for the report that appeared in the publication,” Al-Turki said. He called on the publication to respect basic principles of media ethics and to remain professional when disseminating news stories.