Saudi beheads national over trafficking of hashish

A Saudi man was beheaded by the sword on Sunday after being convicted of drug trafficking, the interior ministry said. Ahmed bin Ali Hamdi had been arrested after taking delivery of a 'large quantity of hashish,' the ministry said in a statement carried by SPA state news agency. His beheading in the south-western city of Jizan brings to 32 the number of people executed in Saudi Arabia this year, according to an AFP tally based on official reports. Under the AFP count, at least 76 people were beheaded in 2011, while rights group Amnesty International put the number of executions last year at 79. The death penalty in Saudi Arabia applies to a wide range of offences including rape, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking, as well as murder, as stipulated by Islamic syariah law.