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TEHRAN - An Iranian member of a group Tehran has linked to Al Qaeda has been hanged in public for his role in "terrorist operations", a newspaper reported today.
Bystanders chanted "Death to America" and "Death to rebels" when Ahmad Sariz was executed on Wednesday in the city of Zahedan, near the Pakistani and Afghan borders, the daily Kayhan reported.
The paper said Sariz was a member of Jundollah (God's soldiers), a group Iran has said has links to Al Qaeda.
The group has claimed responsibility for several attacks in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan, including the bombing of a bus belonging to Iran's Revolutionary Guards last month that killed 11 people.
Jundollah has also said it beheaded a Iranian security agent in 2005 and killed 22 people in March last year.
One Iranian official told Reuters Sariz had been arrested before the Zahedan bus bombing. Another man, convicted of involvement in the bus attack, was hanged last month.
Predominantly Shi'ite Iran has accused the United States and Britain for the February bombing and also blames them of being behind other incidents Tehran says are aimed at stirring up ethnic and religious tensions in the Islamic Republic.
Kayhan said the crowd present at the park in Zahedan during the execution also chanted "Death to Wahhabis", referring to a strict sect of Sunni Islam based in Saudi Arabia and whose clerics regard Shi'ites as virtual heretics.
The daily reported Sariz was involved in a number of "terrorist operations" such as attacking a police station and killing its commander as well as kidnapping Turkish and Iranian citizens. The report did not give details about Sariz's trial.
- REUTERS
