Pubdate: Sun, 19 Dec 2004
Source: Advertiser, The (Australia)
Copyright: 2004 Advertiser Newspapers Ltd
Contact:  http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1

PAIR BEHEADED FOR TRAFFICKING

TWO Iraqis were beheaded in the northern Saudi town of Arar after
being convicted of drug trafficking, the interior ministry said today.

Mohammed bin Ali Bohan al-Salami and Faisal bin Karim bin Alwan
al-Shablawi were convicted of smuggling an undisclosed amount of
hashish, said a statement carried by the official SPA news agency.

The executions take to 30 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.
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