Riyadh - A Saudi man was beheaded on Monday in Medina in ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia's west after being convicted of killing a Sudanese man, a statement from the interior ministry said.
Ali al-Sharif shot Sudanese worker Mohammed Ali to death and stole the contents of a safe, the statement carried by the official SPA news agency said, adding that he had been under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
Sharif's execution brings to 33 the number of people beheaded in Saudi Arabia this year, according to an AFP tally based on official and human rights group reports.
On June 10, London-based watchdog Amnesty International called on Saudi Arabia to stop applying the death penalty, saying there had been a significant rise in the number of executions in the previous six weeks.
It said 15 people were executed in May alone.
In 2009, the number of executions reached 67, compared to 102 in 2008.
Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under Saudi Arabia's strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law. - Sapa-AFP