RIYADH, Oct 8, 2008 (AFP) - A Saudi man convicted of drug trafficking was beheaded by the sword in the southern province of Asir on Wednesday, the interior ministry said.

Ali bin Abdullah al-Bishi was found guilty for the third time of peddling drugs and was executed in Bisha in Asir, the ministry said in a statement carried by the official SPA news agency.

The beheading brings to 72 the number of executions announced by Saudi Arabia this year.

Last year, a record 153 people were executed in the oil-rich Gulf kingdom, which applies a strict version of sharia, or Islamic law. This figure compared with 37 in 2006 and the previous record number of 113 executions in 2000.

Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking can all carry the death penalty in the ultra-conservative country, where executions are usually carried out in public.