April 09, 2008	Wednesday	Rabi-us-Sani 2, 1429

RIYADH, April 8: A Pakistani man was beheaded on Tuesday after he was convicted of murdering a compatriot in Saudi Arabia, the interior ministry said.

Mohammed Faruq Fazl was found guilty of beating Mohammed Afzal Wali Mohammed to death and dumping his body in a mountainous area, a ministry statement carried by the official SPA news agency said.

The execution, in the southern Assyr region, brings to 38 the number of people executed by Saudi Arabia this year.

Last year, a record 153 people were executed in the kingdom, which applies the sharia, or Islamic law. This figure compared with 37 beheaded in 2006, and the previous record number of 113 executions in 2000.

Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking can all carry the death penalty in Saudi Arabia, where executions are usually carried out in public.—AFP