Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has waived a flogging sentence on a female journalist in a case brought after a Lebanese television channel she worked for aired the sex confession of a Saudi man.

Rosana Al-Yami, 22, had been earlier sentenced to receive 60 lashes by a judge in Jeddah.

Rosana said  the court convicted her on Saturday on grounds that the Lebanese  Broadcasting Corp she worked for did not have proper authorization  to operate in the kingdom.  

The ruling followed the sentencing by the same court of Mazen Abdul-Awad to five years in jail and 1,000 lashes  earlier in October after he appeared on an LBC show and talked about his sexual  exploits. The show sparked a public outcry in the kingdom.

Information Ministry spokesman Abdul-Rahman al-Hazza was quoted by media reports as saying the king waived the sentence and ordered Al-Yami's case and that of another journalist - a pregnant woman also accused of involvement in the programme - be referred to a committee in the ministry.

The committee, which usually has a Justice Ministry representative but no judges sitting on it, deals with media-related violations, Al-Hazza said.