Saudi Arabia beheads and crucifies killer who broke into woman’s home

A MURDERER has been crucified in Saudi Arabia, the country’s interior ministry has said.

Elias Abulkalaam Jamaleddeen, from Myanmar, was accused of breaking into the home of a woman, who was also from Myanmar.

He then fired a weapon before repeatedly stabbing her, the official Saudi Press Agency reported, citing an Interior Ministry statement.

Jamaleddeen was also accused of stealing weapons and trying to kill another man whose home he broke into, as well as attempting to rape a woman.

The ruling was supported by the country’s supreme court and endorsed by the king.

The punishment, which is reserved for the worst crimes in the conservative kingdom, was carried out in the holy city of Mecca.

Crucifixions in Saudi Arabia entail hanging a body in public after an execution, and are unusual.

A Yemeni man was crucified in 2010 for raping and killing a girl and shooting dead her father.

The kingdom executed 48 people in the first four months of this year, half of them on non-violent drug charges, Human Rights Watch said.

Earlier this week a Twitter post by a government-linked Saudi Arabian appeared to threaten Canada with its own 9/11 attack.

It came after a huge row erupted between the two countries over Canada’s criticism of Saudi Arabia for its continued jailing of women’s rights activists.

The dispute appears centered around tweets by Canadian diplomats calling on the kingdom to "immediately release" detained activists.

Among the arrested activists is Samar Badawi, whose writer brother Raif Badawi was arrested in Saudi Arabia in 2012.

Mr Badawi was later sentenced to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in prison for insulting Islam while blogging.

He won Europe's top human rights prize in 2015.

His case long has been raised by international human rights groups and Western diplomats, including Canadians, who have called on Saudi Arabia to free him.

Mr Badawi’s wife, Ensaf Haidar, lives in Canada and received Canadian citizenship in July.

Saudi Arabia responded by freezing all new trade with Canada and expelling its ambassador Denis Horak over what it said was"interference" in its domestic affairs.