SAUDI ARABIA. TWO IRAQIS EXECUTED FOR DRUG SMUGGLING

February 7, 2007: the Saudi Arabian authorities beheaded two Iraqi men, Jabbar Karim Saeed Abu Alya and Ali Hamza Humeid al-Mishalani, for drug smuggling, the official Saudi Press Agency reported, quoting an interior ministry statement. The two men were put to death in the town of Rafha near the Iraqi border. Nine people have now been executed in Saudi Arabia this year, where strict Islamic law is observed.
Abu Alya and al-Mishalani were executed after the death sentence against them was upheld by Saudi Arabia's Court of Cassation and the Supreme Judicial Council, according to the the interior ministry statement.
"The Saudi government remains determined to ensure law and order and severely punish criminals," the statement said, cited by the Saudi Press Agency. (Sources: Aki, 07/02/2007)