Saudi Beheaded after Killing 3 in Car Chase

Saudi authorities beheaded a citizen in the northern town of Hael Tuesday after he was convicted of intentionally causing the deaths of three people during a car chase, the interior ministry announced.

Talal bin Fayez al-Shemmari "intentionally hit the car" carrying three men -- Abdelkarim al-Shemmari, Mufawaz bin Falhi al-Shemmari and Walid bin Radi al-Shemmari -- during a high-speed car chase "due to a dispute between them," the ministry said.

The three men being pursued were killed in the crash, said the statement carried by the official SPA news agency.

Tuesday's execution takes to 31 the number of people put to death in Saudi Arabia since the beginning of the year, according to an Agence France Presse count.

In 2012, the kingdom executed 76 people, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. The U.S.-based Human Rights Watch put the number at 69.

Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under Saudi Arabia's strict version of sharia, or Islamic law.