A Saudi man was beheaded today on charges of sorcery, witchcraft and owning talismans, Arab News reports, quoting the Saudi Interior Ministry.

Muree bin Ali Al-Asiri also admitted to "committing adultery with two women," the ministry says, according to the Saudi Press Agency. He was executed in the southern Najran province.

The BBC reports that a Saudi woman was executed for committing sorcery and witchcraft in December, and a Sudanese man was executed in September, despite calls by Amnesty International for his release.

The BBC's Arab affairs editor, Sebastian Usher, notes that Saudi Arabia's powerful conservative religious leaders strongly back the harshest punishment for anyone suspected of acts of sorcery, including fortune-telling and faith-healing.