Saudi beheaded for murder

A Saudi man convicted of murder was beheaded by the sword on Tuesday in the eastern region of Al-Ihsa, the Saudi interior ministry announced. The ministry, in a statement quoted by state news agency SPA, said Mohammed bin Fahd al-Dussari was found guilty of having shot dead another man, Rathwan bin Mohammed al-Dussari, without disclosing if they were related. His beheading raises to 75 the number of people executed so far this year in the ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom, where 79 were put to death in 2011, according to Amnesty International. Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under its strict version of sharia, or Islamic law.