Nine Saudis Beheaded

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) - Seven Saudi men were beheaded Friday for gang raping a man, while two drug dealers were executed for killing a police officer, the Interior Ministry said.

The seven were found guilty of drinking alcohol, then luring a victim to a secluded place where they ``violated him one after the other (while) threatening him with a knife.'' The seven took pictures of the victim in obscene positions, the ministry said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.

The statement did not give the victim's age or further details of when or where the assault took place. The men were executed in the Red Sea city of al-Kunfudhah.

In a separate statement, the ministry said two men were beheaded Friday in the northwestern city of Tabuk for murdering a police officer and trafficking in drugs.

The ministry said the men, who used and sold drugs, killed one officer and injured three others during a shootout at the time of their arrest. They escaped, but were captured later.

The statement provided no further details of the crime.

The executions Friday bring to 41 the number of people executed this year. Last year 125 people were beheaded.

Executions are carried out in public with a sword.

Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation of Islam that prescribes the death penalty for murder, rape, drug trafficking and armed robbery.