Saudi Arabia Beheads National for Murder

Saudi Arabia beheaded on Monday in Riyadh one of its nationals convicted of stabbing to death a fellow Saudi, the interior ministry said.

Khaled bin Hamad stabbed to death Abdul Mohsen bin Othman after a dispute between them, the ministry said in a statement carried by SPA state news agency.

His execution brings to 18 the number of people beheaded in Saudi Arabia so far this year.

In 2012, the kingdom executed 76 people, according to an Agence France Presse tally based on official figures. The U.S.-based Human Rights Watch put the number at 69.

Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under Saudi Arabia's strict version of sharia, or Islamic law.