Quote:
- Iran hangs Arab separatists
Since the 1979 revolution Iran's army has crushed numerous separatist movements
Iran has hanged three people for carrying out bombings in the oil rich Khuzestan province, a newspaper has said.
The Tehran Emrooz daily newspaper said the men were hanged on Tuesday in the provincial capital Ahvaz, where in January 2006 they bombed a private bank and the office of the governor.
"They were convicted for acting against national security," the newspaper said.
In November Iranian media said that a total of 10 men had been convicted of carrying out last year's spate of bombings in Ahvaz and that they would be executed soon.
Ahvaz, the capital of the western Khuzestan province and home to a large community of ethnic minority Arabs, has witnessed a wave of unrest over the past year.
Two Arab separatists have already been hanged over attacks in October 2005, which killed six and injured close to 100.
Another double bombing killed eight and injured 46 in January.
Iran blames Britain
Government officials blamed the Khuzestan unrest on Britain and its troops based just across the border in southern Iraq.
The hangings brings to at least 147 the number of people executed in Iran this year.
Amnesty International says there were 94 executions in Iran in 2005.
Capital offences in the Islamic republic include murder, rape, armed robbery, apostasy, blasphemy, serious drug trafficking, repeated sodomy, adultery or prostitution, treason and espionage.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/9512B2ED-AABC-489F-B86E-F6D872843263.htm |