3 Saudis Executed for Rape, Robbery

May 29 2001RIYADH, Saudi Arabia

 - Three Saudi men were beheaded Tuesday for armed robbery and rape in northern Saudi Arabia, an Interior Ministry statement said. Satam bin Ghazi al-Thuwibi, Majed bin Saud al-Thahiri and Hamad bin Salim al-Mutairi committed a number of armed robberies and raped a male guard in the al-Qassim province, said the statement, carried by the official Saudi Press Agency. In one incident the three tied up an attendant at a gas station and robbed the store. In another, al-Thuwibi and al-Thahiri forced their way into a rest area building, tied up the guard, raped him and robbed the place, the statement said. The three beheadings raise to 47 the number of people executed this year. Last year, 125 people were beheaded. Executions are carried out in public with a sword. Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation of Islam that calls for the death penalty for murder, rape, drug trafficking and armed robbery.