NIGERIAN DRUG SMUGGLER BEHEADED

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- A Nigerian man was beheaded Thursday for smuggling
cocaine, the Saudi Interior Ministry said.

Ibrahim bin Muhammad bin Dan Azumi was carrying the drug inside his body,
according to the ministry statement carried by the official Saudi Press
Agency. The ministry did not say in which part of his body the drugs were
found or the amount.

He was executed in the Red Sea port city of Jiddah.

The ministry did not say at what port of entry he was arrested, but
executions generally take place in the city where the crime was committed.

At least 68 people, including Azumi, have been beheaded this year in the
kingdom. In 2000, 125 people were beheaded. Executions are carried out in
public with a sword.

Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation of Islam that demands the
death penalty for murder, rape, drug trafficking and armed robbery.