Saudi Arabia on Wednesday beheaded one of its citizens in the holy city of Medina after convicting him of murdering a fellow national, the interior ministry said.

Hussein Al-Awfi was found guilty of shooting to death Nayef Al-Sahimi after a "feud" between the two, the official SPA news agency quoted the ministry as saying.

His beheading brings to 30 the total number of executions in the ultra-conservative kingdom so far this year, according to an AFP tally based on official reports.

Under the AFP count, at least 76 people were beheaded in 2011 in Saudi Arabia, while rights group Amnesty International put the number of executions last year at 79.

The death penalty in Saudi Arabia applies to a wide range of offences including rape, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking, as well as murder, as stipulated by strict interpretations of Islamic Sharia law.

(Edited by Ahram Online)