Very few are mercs. The Saudis have two armies - the Royal Saudi Land Forces and the National Guard. The former is the regular army, complete with tanks, PCs etc. They are mostly recruited from the "urban" tribes, and are usually the better educated of the Saudis. They are not, however, terribly motivated, and the RSLF suffers from low equipment availability and poor morale. Their first loyalty is to the King. The National Guard (SANG) is not a reserve force like ours, but a military force with different missions and objectives. They guard the Royal Family, key installations (oilfields), the borders (through a wing called the Fouj, more on them later) and the two Holy Mosques (Mekkah and Madinah). They also provide security and crowd control during the Hadj (annual pilgrimage to Mekkah). SANG is equipped with armored cars (V-150s and LAVs) and a little artillery. The soldiers of SANG are recruited from the Bedouin tribes, so the literacy rate is lower. These folks have lived a harder life, and during Desert Storm were found to be harder fighters and more reliable than the RSLF units. One SANG Brigade destroyed Saddam's spoiling attack at Khafji (albeit with USMC CAS help). They are loyal to the Crown Prince (who is the defacto ruler of the country anyway). The FOUJ are the border guards. They are an irregular force, made up of guys who own the land along the borders. They are fiercely loyal to the Crown Prince as well. The are equipped with modern rifles and a few machine guns, pickup trucks and a few radios. There are almost no mercs in either force, per se. There are a few officers who have served in other Arab armies (usually Jordanian), but they are few and far between. There are several contractors who support both forces, and many of the company names are household names in the US. Their contracts are usually for training and maintenance support, though one supporting SANG actually fielded advisors in the higher headquarters during Desert Storm. I worked for one of these companies for about 12 years, so I am familiar with the inner workings of these contracts.

Also, at one time the RSLF supposedly hired Pakistani soldiers to perform maintenance on their equipment. This is no longer true, but many of the maintenance contractors hire a mix of Filipinos, Pakistanis, Indians and a variety of Westerners to provide direct and general support for their units.

I know as a SF it has foreign guard detail, but being PAID by the foreign govt? Doesnt that make them mercenary -- albeit faith-based?

Not sure who you are talking about. At one time there were supposed to be Pak Army maintenance folks working on RSLF vehicles. I'd not heard of a Pak security unit. I would be somewhat surprised because the Saudis hold Pakistanis in very low esteem. In recent months the Saudis have supposedly hired about a battalion's worth of Jordanian soldiers to back up the National Guard's Special Security Brigade, but this happened after I left there, and have not heard the details.