Iraq executes 21 for terror; Iran hangs 9 for robbery, murder

BAGHDAD/TEHRAN: Iraq put 21 men to death yesterday, a senior Justice Ministry official told AFP, the latest in a series of mass executions that have drawn international condemnation.
All of the men were Iraqis and had been convicted on anti-terror charges, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The executions brought to 50 the number of times Baghdad has carried out the death penalty this year, despite calls for a moratorium on the use of capital punishment.
Justice Minister Hassan Al-Shammari insisted last month that Baghdad would continue to implement the death penalty in the face of widespread calls for it to issue a moratorium.
Meanwhile, Iran yesterday executed nine people convicted of armed robberies, murder and abduction in the southern province of Fars, the authorities said.
Six were hanged in public, while the rest were sent to the gallows in prison, the judiciary in Fars said on its website, identifying the convicts only by their initials. They had been found guilty of “Moharebeh,” or waging war against God, through “repeated armed robberies, murder and abduction,” it said.