http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/world/06-iran-hangs-13-sunni-rebels-as-enemies-of-god-rs-05
Iran hangs 13 Jundallah militants as 'enemies of God'
Tuesday, 14 Jul, 2009 | 02:24 PM PST |
Jundallah claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing on a Shia mosque in
Zahedan in May that killed 25 people. -AP File Photo
TEHRAN: In a mass prison execution, Iran on Tuesday hanged 13 militants from
the shadowy Sunni insurgent group Jundallah as 'enemies of God' for a string of
attacks, including kidnapping of foreigners.
The official IRNA news agency said the insurgents were executed in prison in
the restive southeastern border city of Zahedan, epicentre of a Sunni Muslim
insurgency against the Shia regime in Tehran.
'Thirteen members of this group were hanged this morning,' provincial judiciary
chief Ebrahim Hamidi was quoted as saying.
The militants were accused of being 'mohareb' (enemies of God) and of
'kidnapping foreigners, killing innocents and of carrying out terrorist acts
for the Jundallah group,' IRNA said, quoting a local judiciary statement.
State media had announced on Monday that 14 members of Jundallah (Soldiers of
God) would be publicly executed on Tuesday.
'After last minute consultations, the executions were carried out in a prison,'
Hamidi said.
The media had also reported that Abdolhamid Rigi, brother of Jundallah leader
Abdolmalik Rigi, was one of the militants to be executed. Hamidi said
Abdolhamid Rigi was not among those hanged on Tuesday but would be executed
later this week.
Zahedan is the capital of Sistan-Baluchestan province, which borders
Afghanistan and Pakistan and is home to a sizeable ethnic Baluchi population.
Jundallah has claimed repeated attacks against Iranian government targets in
the province which lies on a major trafficking route for narcotics destined for
Europe and the Gulf.
In the latest major strike, Jundallah claimed responsibility for a suicide
bombing on a Shia mosque in Zahedan in May that killed 25 people, saying it was
a revenge attack for the hanging of members of the Baluch minority.
Amnesty had urged the Iranian authorities to halt the Jundallah executions,
saying the militants had not received a fair trial.
'The Iranian authorities must abide by their international obligations to
uphold human rights and guarantee fair trials, which is all the more essential
in death penalty cases,' the London-based watchdog's Middle East and North
Africa director Malcolm Smart said.
Amnesty said all the accused were believed to have been arrested before the
deadly attack on the Zahedan mosque, for which three people were hanged in
May.-AFP
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