JEDDAH, 5 April 2005 — Six Somalis were executed here yesterday after being convicted of a spate of armed robberies against taxi drivers, the Interior Ministry said.
The six were convicted of “forming a gang which dragged taxi drivers to remote places, beat them up, threatened them with knife and stole their money. ... They also stole a number of taxis,” the Saudi Press Agency reported quoting a ministry statement.
The court found them guilty of “promoting corruption and endangering security,” said the statement.
It named the six as Abdullah ibn Adam Abdullah, Abdul Fattah ibn Ali Hassan, Hussein ibn Harun Mahmoud, Ali ibn Sheikh Yousuf, Abdul Nur ibn Mohammad Wahaile and Abdullah ibn Hassan Abdi.
Jeddah residents say growing numbers of illegal African immigrants, who are either smuggled across the Red Sea or overstay after coming for the pilgrimage, have triggered a sharp increase in crime in the city.
