Pick-pocket's hand amputated in Saudi Arabia

Dubai, Nov 6 (UNI) The hand of a pick-pocket was amputated in Saudi Arabia, in a rarely implemented punishment, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.

The right hand of Amr Nasr, an Egyptian man, was removed in Mecca yesterday after he was found guilty of pick-pocketing inside the Grand Mosque.

Executions this year -- at around 130 -- have more than tripled from 38 in 2006, the agency quoted Zoheir Al Harithy, spokesman for the official Human Rights Commission as saying.

King Abdullah last month announced legal reforms which the Human Rights Commission has said will include formalising the penal code.

UNI