Riyadh, Aug 26: Two Pakistanis convicted of drug trafficking were beheaded today, the Saudi interior ministry said. Akhlaq Ali Mohammed Hashim was arrested trying to smuggle heroin into the kingdom, the ministry statement carried by the official Saudi press agency said. Thaher Shah Khan also was arrested during a heroin smuggling attempt. The quantities of heroin involved and the times of the arrests and trials were not disclosed by the ministry.

Pakistan straddles a narcotics smuggling route feeding lucrative markets in Europe and the middle east. At least seven other Pakistanis were beheaded this year, most of them convicted of drug trafficking.
Khan and Hashim were beheaded in the Red Sea port city of Jiddah. Beheadings are carried out with a sword in public.

The statement carried by spa said the execution orders based on Islamic law “reaffirm the government's relentless efforts to combat drugs and their negative impact on the individual and society”.

Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation of Islam under which people convicted of murder, rape, drug trafficking and armed robbery are executed.
Today's executions bring the number of beheadings in the kingdom this year to 36. Last year, at least 49 people were beheaded.

Bureau Report