Saudi executes Syrian for drug trafficking

Interior Ministry says Omar al Nasser was arrested while smuggling a large amount of amphetamines

RIYADH: Saudi authorities on Wednesday beheaded a Syrian for drug trafficking in the kingdom's northwestern region of Jawf, the interior ministry announced.

Omar al Nasser was arrested while smuggling a "large amount of amphetamines," the interior ministry said in a statement on the official SPA news agency.

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His beheading brings to 116 the number of executions this year in the kingdom, compared with 87 for the whole of 2014, according to AFP tallies.

Amnesty International says Saudi Arabia is one of the world's most prolific executioners, along with China, Iran, Iraq and the United States.

Under the conservative kingdom's strict Islamic sharia legal code, drug trafficking, rape, murder, armed robbery and apostasy are all punishable by death.

Read: Heroin smuggler: Saudi Arabia executes Pakistani

The interior ministry has cited deterrence as a reason for carrying out the punishments.

Rights experts have raised concerns about the fairness of trials in the kingdom.