Xinhua Middle East news summary at 2200 GMT, Jan. 6

RIYADH, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- Saudi police have arrested 11 princes for protesting at the ruling palace in Riyadh and refusing to leave, sources confirmed to Sabq local online news on Saturday.

The princes protested over the decision of the Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to stop the government from paying the power and water bills of princes and their demands to get compensation for the execution of a prince last year who was convicted in a murder case. They were referred to prison pending trial. (Saudi-Arrest of Princes)

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TEHRAN -- An earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale jolted Sar Pol Zahab city in Iran's western province of Kermanshah on Saturday at 18:52 local time (1522 GMT), Iran's Seismological Center reported.

The epicenter, with a depth of 8 km, was initially determined to be at 34.458 degrees north latitude and 45.791 degrees east longitude. (Iran-Quake)

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TRIPOLI -- Forces of the Libyan UN-backed government and the Municipal Council of the western Libyan city of Zuwara on Saturday reached an agreement to stop all military operations carried out by the government's Western Military Zone service in the area.

"An agreement was reached to freeze military operations in the area from Abi Kamash to the Tunsian border," Hafeth Ben-Sasi, dean of Zuwara Municipal Council, told Xinhua. (Libya-Truce)

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DAMASCUS -- A total of 1,500 families have returned to the city of Zabadani in the northwestern countryside of the capital Damascus near the Lebanese border, state news agency SANA reported on Saturday.

The returning families are part of 10,000 others that had fled Zabadani when the battles there were raging before the Syrian army retook it and nearby areas in April 2017, after a deal was struck for the evacuation of the rebels toward northwestern Syria. (Syria-Damascus) Enditem