Saudi to expel foreigners who disrespect Ramadan – Two Saudis beheaded for raping minors

RIYADH: Saudi authorities threatened yesterday to expel non-Muslim foreigners who eat, drink or smoke in public during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which begins this weekend. The interior ministry urged non-Muslims to “respect the feelings of Muslims by refraining from eating, drinking or smoking in public places, streets and at work.” “They are not excused for being non- Muslim,” said the statement carried by SPA state news agency, adding that “labor contracts stipulate respect for Muslim rites.” “Those who violate (that)… will face the necessary measures, including terminating work contracts and being deported,” the statement added. Oil-rich Saudi Arabia, which applies a strict version of sharia Islamic law, hosts more than nine million foreigners, mostly Asians. During Ramadan, Muslims fast from food from dawn to dusk and strive to be more pious and charitable. They are also required to abstain from drinking liquids, smoking and having sex. The fast is one of the five main religious obligations under Islam.

Two beheaded In another development, Saudi authorities beheaded Wednesday two nationals convicted of raping minors in two separate cases, in one of which the culprit killed the victim, the interior ministry said. Hamad bin Meshehen Al- Rashidi was found guilty of kidnapping and raping a seven-year-old boy before throwing him into a well and killing him, the ministry said in a statement carried by SPA state news agency. Rashidi was executed in Qassim province, north of Riyadh. In the other case, Issa bin Mohammed Al-Rashidi was condemned of kidnapping and raping a minor, and attempting to kidnap another. He was executed in the northern Hail province. The beheadings bring to 15 the number of death sentences carried out this year in the ultra-conservative kingdom. Saudi Arabia beheaded 78 people in 2013, according to an AFP count. Last year, the UN High Commission for Human Rights denounced a “sharp increase in the use of capital punishment” there since 2011. According to figures from rights group Amnesty International, the number of executions rose from 27 in 2010, including five, to 82 in 2011, including 28 foreigners. In 2012, the number of executions dipped to 79, among them 27 foreigners. Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under Saudi Arabia’s strict version of Islamic sharia law.—Agencies