SECURITY GUARDS BEHEADED IN SAUDI ARABIA

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Three Saudi security guards were beheaded in
northern Saudi Arabia on Sunday after being convicted of trafficking
hashish and using government vehicles to transport the drug, the Interior
Ministry said.

Khamis bin Mabrouk al-Sayeri, Nasser bin Mohammed al-Fahadi and Zidan
al-Oqaili al-Anzi were arrested loading an undisclosed amount of hashish
into vehicles belonging to Saudi border guards, officials said.

The guards were later convicted of drug trafficking and breaching the
state's trust for using the vehicles.

They were beheaded in the northern border city of Arar, according to the
Interior Ministry statement, carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.

Sunday's executions brings to 13 the number of people executed here this
year. Last year at least 52 people, mostly drug smugglers, were beheaded.

Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation of Islam under which people
convicted of drug trafficking, murder, rape and armed robbery are executed.
Beheadings are carried out with a sword in public.