Saudi says beheadings of Syrians not political
DOHA (AFP) — Saudi Justice Minister Abdullah al-Sheikh on Monday said there was nothing political behind recent beheadings of Syrians in the ultra-conservative kingdom, amid strained ties between the two countries.
"We do not execute anyone for political reasons," Al-Sheikh told reporters in the Qatari capital on the sidelines of a conference on justice in the Arab world.
Earlier this month Saudi Arabia executed three Syrians convicted of drug trafficking, triggering protests in Damascus where one human rights activist claimed that 300 Syrians were jailed in Saudi Arabia with 75 on death row.
"Executions carried out in Saudi Arabia are not a matter of opinion. They are decided by Saudi courts which implement sharia (Islamic law) without distinction," Al-Sheikh said.
On April 21 the relatives of Syrians detained in Saudi Arabia were among dozens of people who staged a sit-in in Damascus in protest at the executions.
A total of 53 people have been executed this year alone in Saudi Arabia, where rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking can all carry the death penalty.
Although political ties between the two nations have been strained over the crisis in Lebanon, Al-Sheikh said that "relations between the Saudi and Syrian ministries of justice are excellent."
Saudi Arabia has accused Syria of blocking the election by parliament of a new president for Lebanon, which has been without a head of state since November amid political feuding.
The oil-rich kingdom and the West back the ruling majority in Beirut, while the opposition is supported by Syria and Iran.
