SAUDI Arabia has executed a Yemeni man accused of plotting a suicide attack in the kingdom and of links to the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group today, said the Interior Ministry.

The wealthy country, with one of the highest execution rates in the world, has been the target of a series of deadly bombing and shootings by IS since 2014.

“Mohammed al-Saddam, a Yemeni national, sought to target civilian gatherings at a public facility under the instructions of the Daesh terrorist organisation,” said the ministry in a statement, referring to IS by its Arabic acronym.

“The death sentence was carried out today in the city of Riyadh.”

The ministry said the man has “pledged allegiance to IS” and was planning a “suicide attack using an explosive belt”, without elaborating on the case or when the man was arrested.

The Saudi authorities cannot immediately be reached for comment.

However, the number of executions had significantly dropped last year, partly due to a moratorium on executions of individuals sentenced to death for drug trafficking.

But Amnesty International had in August said at least 40 people have been executed in Saudi Arabia between January and July this year, more than for the whole of last year.

Almost 70 people have been executed in the kingdom this year, according to an AFP tally based on official statements.

Amnesty said Saudi Arabia put 184 people to death in 2019 – the highest number recorded in the country in a single year.

The state-run Human Rights Commission said it has documented 27 executions last year.

It announced that the kingdom is abolishing court-ordered floggings last year, in a reform move welcomed by rights campaigners.

In November, Saudi Arabia released a man who, as a minor, was arrested for participating in anti-government protests in 2012, after nine years in prison.

But activists are sceptical that reforms will extend to the release of political prisoners, a pause on a sweeping crackdown on dissent or an end to executions. – AFP, December 27, 2021.