RIYADH - A SAUDI court has ratified the beheading and crucifixion of a young man who raped five children, among them a three-year-old boy left to die in the desert, a newspaper reported on Monday.

An appeal court in Riyadh approved the death sentence handed down in June by a lower court in Hail, where the convicted 22-year-old man carried out his crimes, Okaz newspaper said.

The man was arrested several weeks ago, the paper said, as he tried to seize another youth after offering him a ride home from school.

Saudi Arabia has executed 56 people this year under laws that allow the death penalty for rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking.

In extreme cases, the convict is executed and his body crucified in public. -- AFP