Two Egyptians accused of murdering a Filipino in Saudi Arabia were beheaded in the Saudi capital, the Saudi government said Wednesday.
An article on state-run Saudi Press Agency said the Interior Ministry identified the two Egyptians as Wael Al-Sayyid Farid Al-Sayyid and Riziq Eid Ali Rajab.
Both were executed in Riyadh because they killed Filipino Driver Alister Morong and stole his truck for selling, the SPA report said.
It did not say when the murder occurred, however.
Citing information from the Interior Ministry, it said the two Egyptians "confessed" to their crime and the General Court convicted the murderers.
"The sentence was endorsed by the Cassation Court and the Supreme Court; and a royal order was issued to execute the sentence," it said.
"The Ministry of Interior affirms that the Government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdulaziz Al Saud is keen on the preservation of security, the establishment of justice and the implementation of the orders of Allah against anyone who attacks the secured people, sheds their blood, and robs their money; it warns anyone who tries to commit such actions of punishment according to the religion," it added.
A separate article on news site Egypt.com cited an AFP news agency count that the beheadings brought to 75 the number of executions in Saudi Arabia this year.
It added that in September, Amnesty International called on the ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom where 140 people were on death row to establish an "immediate moratorium on executions."
Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under Saudi Arabia's strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law, the article said.
Amnesty said Saudi Arabia executed 27 convicts in 2010, compared to 67 executions announced the year before. — ELR, GMA News
