A Saudi judge has asked several hospitals in the country whether they could damage a man's spinal cord as punishment after he was convicted of attacking another man with a cleaver and paralysing him, the older brother of the victim says.

Abdul-Aziz al-Mutairi, 22, was left paralysed and subsequently lost a foot after a fight more than two years ago. He asked a judge in north-western Tabuk province to impose an equivalent punishment on his attacker under Islamic law, his brother Khaled al-Mutairi, 27, said.

He said one of the hospitals, located in Tabuk, responded, saying it was possible to damage the spinal cord, but the operation had to be done at a more specialised facility.

Saudi newspapers reported on Thursday that a second hospital in the capital, Riyadh, declined, saying it could not inflict such harm.

Administrative offices of two of the hospitals and the court in Tabuk were closed for the Saudi weekend beginning on Thursday and could not be reached for comment.