Saudi Arabia Beheads and Nails Murderer's Body to Cross
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Saudi Arabia executed two murderers including a Yemeni whose body was nailed to a cross after he was convicted of killing a fellow countryman and his daughter, the interior ministry said on Monday.
Shaaban al-Nasheri was beheaded for shooting dead Dhayeh al-Manbahi after barging into his family home in the southwestern town of Jazan, the ministry said in a statement cited by the official SPA agency.
Nasheri was also found guilty of raping and killing Manbahi's daughter before shooting and wounding her sister.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Following his execution, the murderer's body was nailed to a cross in Jazan.
In the second case, Saudi national Mohammed al-Zahrani was decapitated in El-Baha, in the southwest, for shooting dead compatriot Said al-Zahrani over a land dispute.
The beheadings bring to 15 the number of executions reported in the ultra-conservative Gulf monarchy this year, according to an AFP count. In 2009, there were 67 reported executions in the kingdom, compared with 102 in 2008.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under Saudi Arabia's strict Islamic law. In extreme cases, the convict is executed and his body crucified in public.