Saudis Execute Seven Foreigners For Drugs

Seven foreigners - three Nigerians, three Pakistanis and an Afghani - were beheaded Wednesday after being convicted of smuggling drugs hidden in their stomachs.

Two Egyptian men had their hands amputated at the wrist for robbing jewels and money from a house in the western city of Jiddah, the Interior Ministry said.

This month, an Egyptian woman had her hands amputated for robbing pilgrims in Mecca, Islam’s holiest city.

Authorities have pledged to combat the growing crime Saudi Arabia blames on the large number of foreign workers in the oil-rich kingdom. Executions, suspended during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, have been stepped up since it ended March 1.

Under Saudi Arabia’s strict Islamic law, people are beheaded for murder, rape or any crime deemed to “spread corruption on the face of the earth.” In 1987, Saudi Islamic scholars decreed this includes drug smuggling.