Saudi beheads 2 drug smugglers
2006-10-29 14:23
Riyadh - A Nigerian and an Afghan were beheaded by the sword in the Saudi Arabian Red Sea city of Jeddah on Sunday after they were convicted of drug smuggling, the interior ministry said.
Adam bin Mohammad Ali Hassan, a Nigerian national, was found guilty of smuggling a quantity of cocaine into Saudi Arabia after swallowing it, the ministry said in a statement carried by the official SPA news agency.
The Afghan, Mahmud Haji Shadi, alias Jumah al-Deen Farzand Mohammad Omar, was convicted of smuggling heroin into the kingdom, a separate statement said.
The beheadings bring to at least 17 the number of executions in Saudi Arabia this year. At least 83 people were executed in 2005, and 35 in 2004.
Executions are generally carried out in public in the oil-rich kingdom, which applies a strict form of Islamic law. The death penalty is applied for murder, rape, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking.
- SAPA