Saudi Beheaded for Murder

A Saudi man convicted of murder was beheaded by the sword in Arar in the kingdom's north on Saturday, the interior ministry said.

Sutam bin Ayd al-Salabi was sentenced to death for beating and stabbing Mossaed bin Ali al-Salabi to death during a dispute, the ministry said in a statement carried by the official SPA news agency.

The execution is the eighth in the ultra-conservative kingdom this year.

In 2010, 27 executions were reported down from 67 in 2009 and 102 in 2008.

Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under the kingdom's strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law.