S Arabia executes 4 Sri Lankans for armed robbery

RIYADH, Feb 19 (Reuters) Saudi Arabia executed four Sri Lankans today for a series of violent robberies in the conservative kingdom, raising to 16 the number of death sentences carried out this year.

A statement on the official Saudi Press Agency said Victor Korea, Ranjid Silva, Santayoshya Kumar and Sharmeela Kumara were put to death in the capital, Riyadh.

The gang had wounded several people in a series of holdups in labour offices and opened fire on a Saudi citizen whose car they seized, it said. They were not convicted of murder.

Saudi Arabia follows strict Islamic law and executions are usually carried out by public beheading with a sword.

Convicted murderers, rapists and drug traffickers are normally liable for the death penalty in Saudi Arabia, but the kingdom sometimes executes people convicted of other crimes.

Saudi Arabia executed 34 people in 2006, 36 in 2005 and 86 in 2004.

REUTERS AKJ PM1434