CAIRO: Saudi Arabia is on pace to eclipse last year's execution total of 79, having already executed 44 people this year, the interior ministry has confirmed. The latest execution was Saudi citizen Khaled bin Said al-Asmari, who was put to death in the southern city of Abha for reportedly stabbing to death a fellow Saudi, the state news agency SPA reported. In a separate case, three other Saudi nationals were executed in the kingdom's eastern Qatif region for stabbing and then shooting to death an Indian, Kohimo Ahmad, after robbing a shop where he worked, the ministry said. Amnesty International reported that at least 79 people were executed in the ultra-conservative Gulf Kingdom last year, many of whom for non-violent crimes. The London-based human rights organization has called on Riyadh to end the death penalty, but the conservative country has remained obstinate and continues to employ the death penalty for drug crimes, murder, sorcery and adultery.
