Two beheaded in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia beheaded 2 Saudis convicted of murder in the western city of Taif on Tuesday, the interior ministry said.

Khalid al-Harthy was found guilty of shooting a man dead following an angry dispute, the ministry said in a statement on the official SPA news agency. Fayez al-Subaie was convicted of shooting a man dead in a separate incident in the city, the ministry said.

The executions were carried out after the sentences were upheld by the Court of Cassation and a panel of the Supreme Judicial Council, it added.

The beheadings brought to 62 the number of executions carried out in the kingdom so far this year, according to an AFP count.

Under the strict version of Islamic sharia law enforced in Saudi Arabia, the death penalty can be imposed for rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking.

Last year, Saudi Arabia put 102 people to death.

Source: Agence France-Presse, Nov. 10, 2009

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