Saudi man beheaded for murder

Saudi Arabia today executed a murderer who ran over a man and then shot him, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

Mishari bin Turki al-Otaibi had been found guilty of running over Khaled bin Mohammed al-Ajmi and shooting him to death, the statement said.

He then set the car on fire in a bid to hide his crime.

His execution in the eastern city of Khobar brought the number of people beheaded in Saudi Arabia this year to at least 65.

Last year, 35 people were executed in the kingdom and 52 in 2003.

Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation of Islam under which people convicted of murder, drug trafficking, rape and armed robbery can be executed.