Pubdate: Sat, 18 Dec 2004
Source: City Press (South Africa)
Copyright: 2004 City Press
Contact:  http://www.news24.com/City_Press/Home/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2963
Author: Elmarie Jack

DRUG TRAFFICKERS BEHEADED

RIYADH - Three Pakistanis were executed by the sword in the Red Sea
city of Jeddah on Friday after being convicted of drug trafficking,
Saudi Arabia's interior ministry said.

Elias Ahmad Bashir was convicted of attempting to smuggle heroin into
the kingdom while compatriots Dawai Khan Bashir and Mohammad Zaher
Khan were found guilty of receiving the drugs, said a statement
carried by the official SPA news agency.

The executions takes to 28 the number of beheadings announced by Saudi
authorities so far this year, according to an AFP tally based on
official statements.

Executions are generally carried out in public in the conservative
kingdom, which applies a strict form of sharia, or Islamic law.

The death penalty is meted out for murder, rape, apostasy, armed
robbery and drug trafficking.

At least 52 people were executed in Saudi Arabia in 2003.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin