PAKISTANI DRUG SMUGGLER BEHEADED

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) -- A convicted Pakistani drug trafficker was
beheaded Monday, the Saudi Interior Ministry said.

Mir Afzal Omar Shah was arrested as he was smuggling heroin into Saudi
Arabia. He was executed in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, said the ministry
statement. It gave no other details.

The execution brings to at least 65 the number of people beheaded in Saudi
Arabia this year. At least 99 were executed last year.

Punishment in Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation of Islamic law
that calls for death sentences for murder, rape, drug trafficking and armed
robbery. Executions are carried out with a sword in a public square.

Human rights groups have criticized the high execution rate, saying the
condemned -- many of them poor migrant laborers -- have often not received
a fair trial and that Islam prescribes using the death sentence sparingly.