8 Bangladeshis beheaded in Saudi

Eight Bangladeshis have been beheaded in the Saudi capital after being condemned for robbery and murder, local media said on Saturday, citing the interior ministry. The ministry said the men executed on Friday were part of a group of 11 Bangladeshis who had stolen goods from a warehouse after tying up its Egyptian guard, who was left behind to die. The other three Bangladeshis were sentenced to an unspecified number of years in jails and a lashing. The ministry also announced the execution of two Saudis on Friday, which brought the number of beheadings for a single day to 10, and the total number in the kingdom to at least 56 this year. Saudi Arabia has "resumed executions at an alarming pace" since the end of August, Amnesty International said last month, adding that around 140 prisoners were believed to be on death row in the ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom. The London-based watchdog said Saudi Arabia was one of a minority of states that voted against a UN General Assembly resolution last December calling for a worldwide moratorium on executions. Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under the oil-rich Gulf state's strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law.