Medina, Saudi Arabia (AHN) -- A wife in Lebanon is pleading with government officials in Saudi Arabia not to execute her husband on sorcery charges.

Satellite TV fortune teller Ali Hussain Sibat, a Lebanese national, was arrested by Saudi Arabia's religious police while he was visiting the country on an Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca in May 2008.

The sorcery charges stem from broadcasts of a satellite TV show Sibat hosted in which he offered callers advice and predicted their futures.

Although there are anti witchcraft laws on the books in Lebanon, it is a misdemeanor there. There is no legal definition of sorcery in Saudi Arabia, but Sharia law frowns on horoscopes and fortune telling.

Sibat was tried and convicted in November but appealed. The original court in Medina reportedly upheld its verdict in March. Sibat had reportedly confessed to the charges, but said he had done so because he had been told that he would be sent back home to Lebanon if he did.

Sibat's wife is concerned because executions in Saudi Arabia are often swiftly carried out with little, or no, notice.

Samira Rahmoon has gone on television to beg for her husband's life. Rahmoon reportedly said that she has received unofficial word that her husband is scheduled to be executed by beheading on Friday.

Lebanon's justice minister has also appealed to Saudi Arabia's rulers to halt the execution.

Various groups have also called for Sibat's release, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.