WASHINGTON, Oct 18 (AFP) - The United States has raised with Saudi authorities the case of a Saudi-U.S. citizen detained in Saudi Arabia as recently as Monday, State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said on Tuesday.

Speaking at a daily press briefing, Patel said the Saudi government offered no information in advance of the sentencing hearing of Saad Ibrahim Almadi, who the Washington Post said was handed a 16-year jail sentence over his tweets critical of Riyadh.