SAUDI ARABIA BEHEADS MARIJUANA SMUGGLER

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- A Saudi drug trafficker was beheaded Sunday, a
Ministry of Interior statement said.

Dhaher bin Thamer al-Shimry was convicted of smuggling marijuana into
the kingdom, the statement said.

Al-Shimry was beheaded in the eastern province of Hafr al-Baten,
bringing the number of beheadings in the kingdom this year to 41, most
of them drug traffickers. At least 49 people were beheaded last year.

This conservative country 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.