RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Saudi Arabia on Wednesday beheaded a Pakistani citizen and his daughter for smuggling heroin into the kingdom, the Interior Ministry said.

Saudi Arabia's foreign minister Prince Saud al-Faisal gestures as he arrives for a meeting of Arab League foreign ministers to discuss the situation in Iraq, Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2006. [AP]

Mohammed Rafiq Myased and his daughter, Abajan, also Pakistani, were convicted of drug trafficking and executed in Jiddah, the statement said.

Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation of Islam under which people convicted of murder, drug trafficking, rape and armed robbery can be executed.

Wednesday's execution brought to 35 the number of people beheaded in the kingdom this year. Saudi executions are performed in public with a sword to act as a deterrent.

The kingdom beheaded 83 people in 2005 and 35 people in 2004.