Saudi beheads Pakistani for drug trafficking

A Pakistani convicted of drug trafficking was beheaded by the sword in the Riyadh region of Saudi Arabia, the interior ministry announced.

The ministry, quoted by the state news agency SPA, said Qol Iyaz Moazem Khan was found guilty of smuggling in heroin concealed in his stomach. His beheading will be the 39th execution announced in the conservative Muslim kingdom this year.

In 2007, a record 153 people were executed in Saudi Arabia, which applies a strict version of Islamic law.

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.