Saudi man beheaded for double murder

A Saudi man who shot dead 2 compatriots was beheaded by the sword today in the holy city of Mecca in the west of the conservative kingdom, the official SPA news agency reported.

It quoted the interior ministry as saying the man, named as Ali Assiri, shot the 2 others dead in a dispute.

Saudi Arabia imposes the death sentence for rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking under the country's strict Islamic sharia law.

A total of 51 people have been put to death in Saudi Arabia in 2009, according to an AFP count. Last year, Saudi Arabia executed 102 people.

Source: Agence France-Presse

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