July 20

Saudi Brothers Beheaded for Raping

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) - Two Saudi brothers were beheaded Friday in the holy city of Mecca for kidnapping, raping and robbing a woman, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

Saud and Musaid bin Abdul-Rahman al-Auliani lured the unidentified woman into their car and took her to an isolated place where they attacked her, according to the statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.

After forcing the woman out of the car and raping her, the two brothers stole her money and jewelry, the statement said. It did not say when the attack occurred or whether the brothers left the victim at the scene of the crime.

It also did not say where the beheadings took place, but executions generally take place in the city where the crime was committed in an open space near the town's largest mosque.

Friday's executions took to 64 the number of people beheaded so far this year in the kingdom. Last year, 125 people were beheaded. Executions are carried out in public with a sword.

Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil producer and Washington's closest Arab ally for more than a half century, follows a strict interpretation of Islam that calls for the death penalty for murder, rape, drug trafficking and armed robbery.