Pakistani drug trafficker beheaded in Saudi Arabia

A Pakistani man was executed today for attempting to smuggle heroin into the Saudi Arabia, the Interior Ministry said.

Salim bin Khan Abdul Rahman, who had entered Saudi Arabia using a fake passport, smuggled the drug by swallowing an unspecified amount of heroin, the ministry said in a statement. No further details were available.

He was executed in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah, bringing the number of people executed in Saudi Arabia this year to 43. Last year, 35 people were executed.

Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation of Islam under which people convicted of drug trafficking, murder, rape and armed robbery can be executed. Beheadings are carried out with a sword in a public square.