RIYADH: Saudi Arabia on Sunday beheaded a Pakistani convicted of killing a fellow citizen in the holy city of Mecca, the official SPA news agency said.

“Tareq Gaweid Ghulam, a Pakistani, has killed Aref Khuda Bakhsh, (another) Pakistani, using an axe... because of a dispute between them,” reported SPA, adding that Ghulam was executed Sunday.

This brought to 18 the number of executions in the kingdom this year, according to an AFP count.

In 2010, 27 executions were reported, down from 67 in 2009 and 102 in 2008.

Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under the kingdom’s strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law.