A Saudi sentenced to death for murdering his wife was beheaded by the sword on Saturday, the interior ministry said. Ahmed bin Hassan al-Harbi stabbed his wife Zainab bint Ali Hamdi repeatedly in several parts of her body while she was in her bedroom, said a ministry statement carried by the official SPA news agency. The statement said the couple had had a dispute but did not elaborate.
The execution was carried out in the Muslim holy city of Makkah in western Saudi Arabia. Altogether 45 people have been executed in the kingdom so far this year, according to an AFP count. In 2008, Saudi Arabia put 102 people to death for various crimes. Under the country's strict Islamic Shariah law, rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are punishable by the death penalty.