Saudi Beheaded for Murder

A Saudi man was executed Tuesday after being convicted of murdering a compatriot, the interior ministry said.

Mohammed al-Salala Asiri was beheaded by the sword in the southwestern province of Asir after being found guilty of stabbing to death Amir al-Zayadi, the ministry said in a statement carried by SPA state news agency.

His execution brings to 49 the number of people beheaded in Saudi Arabia so far this year, according to an Agence France Presse tally based on official reports.

Rights group Amnesty International puts the number of people executed in Saudi Arabia last year at 79.

The death penalty applies to a wide range of offences including rape, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking, as well as murder, as stipulated by Islamic sharia law.