Saudi Arabia executes Iraqi man for drug smuggling

RIYADH, May 14 (Reuters) Saudi Arabia executed an Iraqi man today for smuggling drugs into the conservative Muslim country.

Hakem al-Zayadi was executed in the town of Rafha near the border with Iraq for smuggling hashish on a motorcycle, the state news agency SPA said.

The execution brings to at least 59 the number of people put to death in the country this year.

The sentences, usually carried out through public beheadings, apply to those convicted of drug trafficking, rape, murder and other violent crimes.

Human rights groups say the punishment is draconian and reflects old customs. Saudi Arabia, which beheaded 38 people last year and 83 people in 2005, says it is strictly following the rules of Islamic law.

REUTERS AB PM1829