SAUDI ARABIA: PAKISTANI EXECUTED FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING

Saudi Arabia beheaded a Pakistani for heroin smuggling, bringing to 10 the number of people from his country executed in the kingdom for drug trafficking since mid-October.
The sentence against Mohammad Fayad Mohammad Azam was carried out in the capital Riyadh, the interior ministry said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.
According to an AFP tally, Azam was the latest of 79 foreigners and Saudis executed in the country this year, despite international concerns over the number and judicial process.
According to rights organisation Ansar Burney Trust, nearly 50 Pakistanis are believed to be facing capital punishment for smuggling drugs.
More than two-thirds of this year’s executions have occurred over the past four months.
The interior ministry says the government is battling narcotics “because of their great harm to individuals and society”.