RIYADH, Feb 4: Saudi Arabia beheaded an Indian, an Iraqi and a Pakistani on Monday after they were convicted of drug smuggling, the interior ministry said.

Rashid Akbar Hussein Eddin of India and Wassee-Allah Rafee-Allah Khan of Pakistan were found guilty of trafficking opiate, while Iraqi Ahmed al-Khazali was convicted of smuggling hashish, the ministry said in separate statements carried by the official SPA news agency.

Saudi authorities have announced 23 executions so far this year, after a record 153 people were put to death in 2007.—AFP