Outcry as Iran set for 11 public hangings

TEHRAN'S hardline Islamic regime is preparing to publicly hang 11 Iranian Arabs convicted of "enmity with God" for their alleged involvement in a bombing campaign in which over 20 were killed last year, after what rights activists say were summary, secret trials.

The executions are due to take place by Monday, according to Iranian media reports. The intention apparently is to disperse the hangings in several cities with largely Arab populations in order to spread fear, activists say. Campaigners insist the men are innocent and paying the price for merely hailing from the disadvantaged Arab minority.

Their heavily edited "confessions" were shown on television on Monday night after months of incarceration in which they were tortured and their families threatened, the British Ahwazi Friendship Society said.

The pending executions are raising a storm of protest from British MPs. The human rights campaigner, Peter Tatchell, backed by Labour MP Chris Bryant and Tory MP Michael Gove, is urging the government to petition Iran to commute the executions.

The sentences were imposed after swift trials behind closed doors which human-rights groups say did not meet international standards.