RIYADH - Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs said on Tuesday it had suspended 126 local government employees at municipalities across the kingdom on corruption charges.

"They are charged with involvement in a number of cases including financial and managerial corruption, abuse of power as well as other legal and criminal violations," the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs said on Twitter.

Last year, King Salman ordered the establishment of specialized departments in the public prosecutor's office in order to accelerate the investigation and prosecution of corruption cases. The public prosecutor said then that the campaign would work its way through lower-level offences. Reuters