Saudi Arabia beheads ‘al-Qaeda extremist

THE Saudi Arabian authorities have confirmed that a man who stabbed four actors from a Malaga troupe performing in the country has been executed by the state. Last November Emad Abdelqawi al Mansuri, a 33-year-old Yemeni national, stormed the stage in the Saudi capital of Riyadh where the group were performing as part of a larger cultural programme of events.His face was covered and he read out a short note, decrying the kingdom’s promotion of leisure activities, something sacrilegious in the eyes of a minority of ultra-orthodox Islamists. He then attacked the performers, inflicting “Superficial injuries” which all soon recovered from. Despite there being no deaths or serious injuries, within a few weeks he had been sentenced to death for terrorist related activities, a sentence carried out earlier this week. Saudi Arabia carries out more state executions than almost anywhere else in the world, around 200 last year. Capital crimes include treason, terrorism, drug smuggling, armed robbery, aggravated burglary, rape and murder. They also include non-violent acts such as insulting the royal family, blasphemy, homosexuality, adultery and “sorcery or witchcraft.”