Iraq Hangs Three on Terrorism Charges

Iraqi forces arrive to take part in a victory celebration after defeating ISIS in Mosul, Iraq July 2, 2017. (Reuters)
Iraqi forces arrive to take part in a victory celebration after defeating ISIS in Mosul, Iraq July 2, 2017. (Reuters)
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Iraq Hangs Three on Terrorism Charges

Iraqi forces arrive to take part in a victory celebration after defeating ISIS in Mosul, Iraq July 2, 2017. (Reuters)
Iraqi forces arrive to take part in a victory celebration after defeating ISIS in Mosul, Iraq July 2, 2017. (Reuters)

Iraq on Tuesday hanged three men convicted of terrorism offenses in a prison in the city of Nasiriyah, two security sources told AFP.

One of those executed was found guilty of involvement in a summer 2013 car bombing in Nasiriyah, one of the sources said.

A second was convicted for his part in a similar attack in Karbala province further north, the source added.

Iraq executed more than 50 people in 2020, the fourth highest number in the world, according to human rights group Amnesty International. Many were convicted members of the ISIS terror group.

The group overran large swathes of northern and western Iraq in a lighting offensive in 2014 before eventually succumbing to counter-attacks by government forces in 2017.

Murder as well as terrorism offenses is punishable by death in Iraq.

Tuesday’s executions bring the number put to death this year to 17, according to an AFP tally.

All were executed in Nasiryah prison.



Lebanese Politician Accuses Israel of Increasing Bombardment to Wring Concessions

This picture taken from a position in northern Israel, near the border with Lebanon, shows an Israeli flag (L) on a destroyed building, and a Lebanese flag (R) painted on a damaged building in the southern Lebanese village of Mais al-Jabal on November 25, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
This picture taken from a position in northern Israel, near the border with Lebanon, shows an Israeli flag (L) on a destroyed building, and a Lebanese flag (R) painted on a damaged building in the southern Lebanese village of Mais al-Jabal on November 25, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
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Lebanese Politician Accuses Israel of Increasing Bombardment to Wring Concessions

This picture taken from a position in northern Israel, near the border with Lebanon, shows an Israeli flag (L) on a destroyed building, and a Lebanese flag (R) painted on a damaged building in the southern Lebanese village of Mais al-Jabal on November 25, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
This picture taken from a position in northern Israel, near the border with Lebanon, shows an Israeli flag (L) on a destroyed building, and a Lebanese flag (R) painted on a damaged building in the southern Lebanese village of Mais al-Jabal on November 25, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)

Lebanon’s deputy parliament speaker has accused Israel of ramping up its bombardment of Lebanon in order to pressure the government to make concessions in indirect ceasefire negotiations with Hezbollah.

Elias Bou Saab, an ally of the Iran-backed group, said Monday that the pressure has increased because “we are close to the hour that is decisive regarding reaching a ceasefire.”

“We are optimistic, and there is hope, but nothing is guaranteed with a person like (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu),” Bou Saab told reporters.

Israel has carried out heavy strikes in central Beirut in recent days, while Hezbollah has increased its rocket fire into Israel.

The United States is trying to broker an agreement in which Hezbollah fighters and Israeli forces would withdraw from southern Lebanon and Lebanese troops would patrol the region, along with a UN peacekeeping force.

Israel has demanded freedom of action to strike Hezbollah if it violates the ceasefire, but Bou Saab said that was not part of the emerging agreement.

He also said Israel had accepted that France be part of the committee overseeing the ceasefire after Lebanese officials insisted. There was no immediate confirmation from the Israeli side.

Israel has objected to France being on the committee in the wake of the International Criminal Court’s decision last week to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu, his former defense minister and a Hamas military commander.

France said it supports the court. It said the question of whether it would arrest Netanyahu if he set foot on French soil was a “complex legal issue” that would have to be worked out.