Saudi Arabia executes murderer, Indian smuggler

RIYADH, May 15 (Reuters) Saudi Arabia executed today a Saudi man for murder and an Indian for smuggling drugs into the conservative Muslim country.

Ahmad Al-Harbi, a Saudi national, was executed in a town near Mecca, while Abu Bakr Alapurat, an Indian was executed in the capital Riyadh for smuggling heroin, the state news agency SPA said.

The execution brings to at least 61 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 SLD KP1628