Saudi Beheads Syrian Convicted of Murder

Saudi authorities beheaded by the sword a Syrian man on Wednesday after convicting him of murdering a bedouin, the interior ministry said.

Abeer Zaidan was found guilty of murdering Badr bin Murad al-Shimmari, who belonged to a nomadic tribe, the ministry said in a statement carried by SPA state news agency.

It said Zaidan "deceived his victim, hit him with a piece of iron until he died, and stole the money he had on him."

His execution in Qurrayyat, in the northern region of Jawf, brings to 50 the number of people beheaded in Saudi Arabia so far this year, according to an Agence France Presse tally based on official reports.

Rights group Amnesty International puts the number of people executed in Saudi Arabia last year at 79.

The death penalty applies to a wide range of offences including rape, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking, as well as murder, as stipulated by Islamic sharia law.