News in Brief
Saudi executes 4 over murder:
Saudi authorities executed four citizens on Sunday convicted of killing six members of their tribe, the interior ministry said.
The killings took place due to a land dispute among members of the Quthami tribe, the ministry said in a statement on the official SPA news agency.
The four, including three brothers, were executed in the western city of Taif, bringing to 105 the number of death sentences carried out in the kingdom this year.
Saudi Arabia’s growing use of the death penalty has prompted Amnesty International to call for an “immediate” moratorium on the practice. The kingdom imposes the death penalty for offences including murder, drug trafficking, armed robbery, rape and apostasy. (AFP) Palestine FM commends ties with Kuwait: Palestinian Foreign Minister Riadh Al-Malki commended on Saturday strong relations with the State of Kuwait, which has been a solid supporter of the Palestinians.
Al-Malki, in a statement to KUNA after a preparatory Arab Foreign Ministers’ meeting, said Kuwait, whether His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah or the government, has been backing the Palestinian cause since the early beginnings.
Kuwait, he noted, allocated $200 million to rebuild the Gaza Strip following the Israeli aggress against the besieged enclanve.
Al-Malki described the relations between Kuwait and Palestine as “excellent, “noting the visit of First Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah to Palestine, which resulted in formation of a ministerial committee. (KUNA)
Iran detains Iranian-American:
Iran confirmed on Sunday the detention of an Iranian-American visiting the country, the latest in a string of arrests of dual nationals in the past year.
Asked about reports of the arrest of a dual citizen on national security charges, Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei told a weekly news conference: “The report on the arrest of an Iranian-American dual national is correct,” the semi-official Fars news agency said.