RIYADH: A man convicted of smuggling heroin became Thursday the seventh person from Pakistan to be beheaded over the past month in Saudi Arabia for drug trafficking.



The execution of Niyaz Mohammed Ghulam Mohammed was carried out in Riyadh after he was "tried and found guilty of attempting to smuggle a large amount of heroin," the official Saudi Press Agency reported.



The latest case brings to 67 the number of foreigners and Saudis executed for crimes this year, despite international concerns.



The interior ministry says the government is battling narcotics "because of their great harm to individuals and society."



In September, an independent expert working on behalf of the United Nations called for an immediate moratorium on the death penalty in Saudi Arabia.



Rape, murder, apostasy and armed robbery are also punishable by death under the kingdom's strict version of Islamic sharia law.