Saudi Arabia beheaded one of its citizens on Sunday after he was convicted of killing a relative in the kingdom's north, the interior ministry said.

Awad Rawili stabbed to death Jazaa Rawili, a relative, during an argument , said the statement carried by the official SPA news agency.

He was executed in the northern city of Araar.

His beheading brings to 39 the number of people executed in Saudi Arabia since the beginning of the year, according to an AFP tally.

In 2012, the kingdom executed 76 people, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Human Rights Watch has 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.