A Scot and a Canadian lost their appeals against the...

A Scot and a Canadian lost their appeals against the death sentence in Saudi Arabia. Alexander Mitchell, originally from Kirkintilloch and William Sampson, a Canadian national born in Glasgow will be executed. They were accused of carrying out a car bombing campaign.Britons James Lee, James Cottle, Les Walker and Peter Brandon and Belgian Raf Schyvens were given prison sentences, according to lawyer Michael O'Kane.The Saudi Justice Ministry refused to comment.O'Kane could not say how long the jail sentences were, or on exactly which charges each was convicted. He said the defence team had been allowed to read the verdicts just once in the public prosecutor's office and were not given copies. The case has been shadowed by allegations of mistreatment. O'Kane said defence lawyers had appealed against the verdicts, saying the men were tortured into making confessions that were later withdrawn. A copy of the appeal added that lawyers were not notified of hearings and not granted access to any of the police reports or other documents.O'Kane said Saudi authorities told the lawyers not to relay the verdicts to their clients. "So far their morale is good and they are hoping that they would be set free," he said. Those sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia are beheaded in public using a sword under the Gulf kingdom's strict version of Islam. The British and Belgian embassies in Riyadh refused to comment on the verdicts.Canadian Ambassador Melvyn MacDonald said the decisions were not final and that Sampson's case would be raised by Canadian officials in a meeting with Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef.The men were arrested after Briton Christopher Rodway, 48, who worked in a Saudi hospital, was killed in a November 17 2000, blast in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, that also slightly injured his wife.On November 22, another car bomb injured two men and a woman, all Britons.Sampson and Mitchell were shown on Saudi television confessing to the bombings. No motive was given.