SIX BEHEADED IN SAUDI ARABIA

RIYADH - Four Saudis were beheaded by the sword on Monday after being
convicted of rape and murder, while an Iraqi and a Pakistani
nationals were executed for drug trafficking, the interior ministry
said.

The six beheadings -- one of the highest numbers of executions in one
day -- brought to 72 the number of executions announced by the Saudi
authorities this year, almost double the figure in 2006.

The four Saudis were among a group of five who lured youngster
Fahdbin Mazyad al-Harbi into an unfinished building where they
sodomised him, the ministry said in a statement carried by the SPA
state news agency.

One attacker tightened a wire around the victim's neck to force him
to submit, leading to his death, it said, adding that the culprits
all fled, leaving the body to rot.

The five were named as Dakheel bin Hussein al-Nakhli, Fahd bin Jamaan
al-Luhaibi, Mohammad bin Ibrahim al-Sahli, Raed bin Atallah
al-Luhaibi and Faisal bin Mutair al-Luhaibi.

Four were executed in the western city of Medina, while the fifth man
remains on trial, the statement said.

Meanwhile, Iraqi national Hakem Rajouj Mutair al-Ziyadi was beheaded
after being caught red-handed attempting to smuggle an undisclosed
amount hashish into the ultra-conservative kingdom using a motorbike,
the ministry said.

Pakistani national Seraj Mohammad Abdul Mohammad was also beheaded
after being convicted of smuggling an undisclosed amount of heroin he
had hidden in his stomach.

At least 37 people were executed in 2006, while 83 were put to death
in 2005 and 35 the year before, according to AFP tallies based on
official statements.

Executions are usually carried out in public in Saudi Arabia, which
applies a strict form of sharia, or Islamic law. Rape, murder,
apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking can all carry the death
penalty.