http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/murderers-beheaded-by-sword-in-saudi-arabia/2008/12/18/1229189746145.html
Murderers beheaded by sword in Saudi Arabia December 18, 2008 - 6:55AM Two men have been beheaded by the sword in Saudi Arabia after being convicted of murder, the interior ministry says. Saudi Abdullah Ruili, was found guilty of the shooting death of an unnamed compatriot and decapitated in the northern border city of Araar, said a ministry statement carried by SPA official news agency on Wednesday. And Mohammed al-Saadi, whose nationality was not given, was convicted of the shooting death death of Saudi Ali al-Qahtani and executed in the southwestern city of Bisha, the ministry said. The beheadings bring to 96 the total number of executions this year in the ultra-conservative Gulf kingdom. In 2007, a record 153 people were executed in the country, which applies a strict version of sharia, or Islamic law. That compared with 37 in 2006 and the previous record of 113 in 2000. Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking can all carry the death penalty in the ultra-conservative country, where executions are usually carried out in public. In October, human rights watchdog Amnesty International said the number of executions in Saudi Arabia was surging and that the principal victims were poor migrant labourers and Saudis without connections. AFP
