The killer of Irish journalist Simon Cumbers is believed to be among the 47 people executed in Saudi Arabia, the BBC reports.

Cumbers, from Navan, died in Riyadh in June 2004 when he and his BBC colleague were attacked by terrorists linked to Al-Qaeda.

Adil Sa’ad Al-Dubayti Al Mutayri was sentenced to death in November 2014.

In a 2009 interview with the Meath Chronicle, the Cumbers family plead with the Saudi government not to execute the man.

'Simon was a pacifist, someone who would not have wanted the death penalty and would have opposed it. We do not want this man to be executed if he is found guilty,' said his father.