Saudi Beheads Three by the Sword

A Saudi and an Iraqi convicted of murder and a Saudi convicted of drugs trafficking were beheaded in Riyadh on Friday, the interior ministry said.

Fahd al-Said and Iraqi Abderrahman al-Muaissab were found guilty of causing the death of Hossa bin Abid by breaking into her home, attacking her and tying her up so they could rob her, a ministry statement reported by state news agency SPA said.

In the other case, Saudi Saad al-Oteibi, a repeat offender, was executed for bringing "a large quantity of amphetamines" and hashish into the kingdom, the ministry said.

Friday's decapitations take to 53 the number of people executed by the sword in the ultra-conservative Gulf nation this year, according to an AFP count.

Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under Saudi Arabia's strict version of Islamic sharia law.

Human Rights Watch expressed alarm last month at a surge in executions, which saw 19 people beheaded between August 4 and 20 alone.

HRW said eight of those executed had been convicted of non-violent offenses such as drug trafficking and "sorcery", and described the use of the death penalty in their cases as "particularly egregious".