LONDON, June 13: Britain said on Sunday it has authorised the voluntary departure from Saudi Arabia of non-essential British embassy staff and their families, a day after a US national was killed in the Gulf state.

"The Foreign Office is authorizing the voluntary departure of non-essential staff and dependents," a spokesman said. "It's not a response to the events of yesterday. We have been looking at this for some time," he added.

"We are only bringing the mission into line with what the general travel advice is." The Foreign Office has since February advised British nationals against all but essential travel to Saudi Arabia.

The move by the British Foreign Office comes as British Airways said its Saudi-bound crew was over nighting in Kuwait because of "safety concerns". But a senior BA executive said that the airline was not worried about flying into and out of Saudi Arabia.

"We are in touch with lots of people and there are no specific threats that we have been made aware of," commercial manager for Saudi Arabia Richard Hirsch said on Saturday. -AFP