09 May 2008 :

Saudi Arabian Justice Minister Abdullah al-Sheikh 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 Qatari. 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.