Jordanian among 5 executed in Saudi Arabia

RIYADH — A Jordanian was among five people executed in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, bringing to 69 the number of people the Gulf kingdom has put to death this year.

The Jordanian, Abdallah Tayaha, was convicted of amphetamine trafficking. He was put to death in the northwestern Jawf region, the Saudi interior ministry said.

Amphetamines are stimulants most often targeted at students and labourers in Saudi Arabia, the interior ministry's spokesperson, Gen. Mansour Al Turki told reporters last week.

He added that war-ravaged Syria has become one of the biggest producers of the drug.

The 69 executions so far this year include 47 death sentences for "terrorism" carried out in a single day on January 2.

Most people sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia are beheaded with a sword.

In 2015, Saudi Arabia executed 153 people, most of them for drug trafficking or murder, according to an AFP count.

Amnesty International says the number of executions in Saudi Arabia last year was the highest for two decades.

However, the tally was far behind those of China and Iran.

The Gulf kingdom has a strict Islamic legal code under which murder, drug trafficking, armed robbery, rape and apostasy are all punishable by death.