Shahla Jahed had spent nine years in the notorious Evin prison
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Iran has executed a woman sentenced to death for murdering the first wife of a prominent footballer, her lawyer says.
Abdolsamad Khoramshahi said Shahla Jahed was hanged at 0500 local time (0130 GMT) at Tehran’s Evin prison, the official Irna news agency reported.
International human rights groups have campaigned for her release since she was jailed nine years ago.
The execution is the 146th in Iran this year, according to AFP news agency.
Amnesty International on Tuesday made a last-minute appeal for the sentence to be halted, saying Jahed had not received a fair trial.
Jahed, who had been living with footballer Nasser Mohammad-khani in Tehran under a temporary marriage, was found guilty of stabbing to death his first wife, Laleh Saharkhizan, in 2002.
She first confessed to the murder, but then retracted the statement in court.
She had spent the last nine years in Iran’s notorious Evin prison.
Mr Mohammad-khani was a top Iranian footballer in the late 1980s who later became coach for Tehran’s Persepolis club.
The practice of a temporary marriage, known as sigheh, is allowed under Shia Islam.
It prevented Mr Mohammad-khani from facing charges of adultery, although he was sentenced to 74 lashes for drug-taking after the court heard he had smoked opium with his mistress.
He was initially suspected of complicity in the murder and jailed for several months, but released after Jahed’s confession.
Malcolm Smart, Amnesty director for the Middle East and North Africa, said there are “strong grounds to believe that Shahla Jahed did not receive a fair trial, and may have been coerced into making a ‘confession’ during months of detention in solitary confinement”.
“She retracted that confession at her trial but the court chose to accept it as evidence against her,” he added in a statement.
The verdict was overturned in 2008 after the judiciary cited “procedural flaws” but Jahed was again sentenced to death in February 2009.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
No candidate received more than 50% of the vote in the first round four weeks ago
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Ivory Coast’s election commission has delayed the announcement of the presidential run-off results, amidst rising tension and anger.
Alassane Ouattara’s supporters have accused his opponent President Laurent Gbagbo of trying to “confiscate power” by blocking the announcement.
Mr Gbagbo says he reserves the right to annul results from his rival’s northern stronghold because of alleged fraud.
International observers have described Sunday’s elections as generally fair.
The presidential elections, the first in 10 years, are intended to reunify the country – divided by civil war in 2002.
Both sides have accused each other of intimidation and fraud and at least three people were killed on Sunday.
The BBC’s John James in the commercial capital, Abidjan, says only the results from voters abroad have so far been released by the electoral commission – and of these 60% voted for Mr Ouattara.
This news has raised tensions and there is a now heavy security presence on the streets of the city, he says.
Presidential Contenders
Laurent Gbagbo (left)
Age: 65Southerner, ChristianFormer history teacher, now presidentTook 38% of the first-round vote
Alassane Ouattara (right)
Age: 68Northerner, MuslimEconomist and former prime ministerTook 32% of the first-round voteCountry profile: Ivory Coast
The election commission had said it was to start announcing the rest of the results on Tuesday morning.
But journalists who had been waiting for them inside the electoral commission headquarters in Abidjan were told to leave, our reporter says.
Following this Mr Ouattara’s spokesperson said the delay would “drive the country once again into chaos”.
“There is an attempt to prevent the electoral commission from declaring the results. The officials from Laurent Gbagbo’s camp have put up resistance,” Albert Mabri Toikeusse said.
Mr Gbagbo’s campaign manager said they had the right to contest the vote in three regions in the north.
“There were results that were forced out of the population; these were results that are totally false, which are the fruit of stuffed ballot boxes, of fraudulent results sheets,” Pascal Affi N’Guessan said.
The result is expected to be extremely close – testament to the fact these are the first open democratic elections the country has seen in 50 years since independence.
The two candidates represent the two sides of the north-south divide that exists religiously, culturally and administratively, with the northern half still controlled in part by the soldiers who took part in the 2002 rebellion, our reporter says.
The elections have been cancelled six times in the past five years.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Widespread ice has caused disruption on the roads
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Fresh snow has fallen across large parts of England, causing a major airport to close its runway and further disruption to schools and roads.
All flights at Gatwick Airport have been halted following snow showers overnight.
Up to 15cm (6ins) of snow fell in some areas of England and more showers are expected throughout the day.
Met Office heavy snow warnings remain for the East Midlands, Yorkshire and Humber and the North East.
There are risks of drifting snow in London, the South East and the East.
Widespread ice is causing problems on roads across the whole of England.
Many schools have already announced they will shut on Wednesday as temperatures struggle to get above 0C.
Met Office forecaster David Price said: “It will remain bitterly cold today with the strong north-easterly winds continuing to bring snow showers and making temperatures feel as low as minus six or seven degrees.”
He said the snowy conditions would continue on Thursday but Friday should see a reprieve, with more snow on the way over the weekend.
Gatwick Airport spokeswoman Sarah Baranowski said the runway was closed at 2230 GMT on Tuesday.
She said ground staff had worked working throughout the night but had not been able to clear the settling snow.
“It is vital that passengers do not make their way to the airport and check our website and with their airline for updates,” she said.
“We need to make sure the runway is safe before all flights can recommence but the snow has not stopped all night.”
Travel disruption:
In Kent, there are significant delays on the M25, A2 and A282 Dartford river crossing. There are at least 100 lorries stranded on the M25 at junction 2In Surrey, police are warning people in the Reigate and Leatherhead area not to travel, particularly not on the M25In South Yorkshire, bus services have been cancelled in Sheffield, Rotherham and DoncasterThere are no trains between Victoria and Dartford, Charing Cross and Hastings and between Strood and Paddock WoodNo flights in or out of Gatwick Airport and delays at London City airportDurham Tees Valley Airport is closed but is expected to reopen at 0900 GMT
Rail services have been disrupted by snow and ice
Overnight, Southeastern said that at least three of its trains were stuck for about five hours due to problems with ice and snow.
About 60 passengers were affected when the night trains travelling from London to Kent became stuck in the Orpington and Sevenoaks area.
The UK has been experiencing the earliest widespread snowfall since 1993.
The unusual weather is being caused by high pressure over Greenland and low pressure in the Baltic states, forcing cold winds from the north-east across Europe.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Pakistan says there have been no incidents involving its fissile material
Pakistan has dismissed fears expressed in US diplomatic cables, released by whistle-blower website Wikileaks, that its nuclear material could fall into the hands of terrorists.
High Commissioner to the UK Wajid Shamsul Hasan said the material had a “foolproof control and command system”.
The cables warn Pakistan is rapidly building its nuclear stockpile despite the country’s growing instability.
There is also scepticism about whether Pakistan could cut links to militants.
Separately, Interpol has issued a notice asking for information on the whereabouts of Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Mr Hasan said the fears expressed in the cables came “off and on” but added: “We have always been telling them straight forward that [the nuclear weapons] are in secure hands, they don’t have to worry about it and we will protect them.
“They are the dearest assets that we have and we’ll not allow anything to fall into any adventurer’s hands.”
Analysis
International concerns over the security of Pakistan’s nuclear materials are not new, nor is Pakistan the only country to attract such concerns.
But the stark language used in these confidential diplomatic cables gives us the clearest picture yet of what Western governments really fear – al-Qaeda or fellow jihadist militants getting their hands on enough nuclear material from Pakistan to build a crude nuclear device.
This is thought unlikely to be a full-scale nuclear bomb but more feasibly a Radiological Dispersal Device (RDD), consisting of radioactive material wrapped around conventional explosive. If detonated it could scatter dangerous material over a wide area.
The Pakistani media has expressed indignation in the past over any suggestion that the country’s nukes are not secure. Some commentators have suggested this is deliberate scaremongering by the West so as to eventually seize control of Pakistan’s strategic weapons.
In one of the latest cables to be released by Wikileaks, senior UK Foreign Office official Mariot Leslie told US diplomats in September 2009 that Britain had “deep concerns about the safety and security of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons”.
In another cable seven months earlier, then-US ambassador Anne Patterson told Washington: “Our major concern is not having an Islamic militant steal an entire weapon but rather the chance someone working in the government of Pakistan facilities could gradually smuggle enough material out to eventually make a weapon.”
Another cable concerning a US intelligence briefing in 2008 said: “Despite pending economic catastrophe, Pakistan is producing nuclear weapons at a faster rate than any other country in the world.”
Mr Hasan said that since the government of President Asif Ali Zardari had come to power 27 months ago “we have had a very successful, foolproof control and command system looking after the nuclear arsenal”.
Mr Hasan admitted the leaks were harmful.
“You are dealing with the relationship with states. You have built them over the years and all of a sudden something gets out – it’s top secret, it’s classified, it harms the relationship,” he said.
Mr Hasan also said Pakistan would not accept any US help on nuclear security “because we are a sovereign nation”.
Pakistan foreign office spokesman Abdul Basit told Agence France-Presse news agency the fears expressed in the leaks “were misplaced and doubtless fall in the realm of condescension”. He said they reflected “historical biases against Pakistan”.
In the leaked material Ms Patterson also said there was “no chance” of Pakistan “abandoning support for [militant] groups”.
The Pakistan government, she added, saw militant groups “as an important part of its national security apparatus against India”.
The cables question Mr Zardari’s relationship with the military
The US also expressed concern about tensions between the powerful Pakistani army and Mr Zardari.
In material from March 2009, US cables noted that army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani might “however reluctantly” put pressure on President Zardari to step down, although he “distrusted [opposition leader] Nawaz [Sharif] even more”.
The BBC’s Aleem Maqbool in Islamabad says military officials here believe the Wikileaks disclosures are being used as a stick with which to bully Pakistan into giving up its nuclear programme.
But he says there are many observers who will see the concerns raised as valid, particularly considering the tens of thousands of people here whose work is connected to the nuclear programme.
The US has condemned the Wikileaks disclosures, published by the UK Guardian newspaper, as an attack on the world community.
The Main Leaks So FarSeveral Arab leaders urged attack on Iran over nuclear issueUS instructs spying on key UN officialsChina’s changing relationship with North KoreaYemen approved US strikes on militantsPersonal and embarrassing comments on world leadersFears over Pakistan’s nuclear programmeAfghan leader Hamid Karzai freed dangerous detainees
Wikileaks cables: Key issuesOn Wednesday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is in Kazakhstan for the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) summit, said she had raised the issue with the leaders she had met and none had expressed any concerns about continuing diplomatic work with the US.
The communications between the US state department and its embassies and consulates around the world were sent between 1966 and 2010.
Wikileaks has so far posted only 291 of the 251,287 messages it says it has obtained. However, all of the messages have been made available to five publications, including the New York Times and the Guardian.
No-one has been charged with passing them to Wikileaks, but suspicion has fallen on US Army Private Bradley Manning, an intelligence analyst arrested in Iraq in June and charged over an earlier leak of a classified video.
The cables release is the third mass Wikileaks publication of classified documents; it published 77,000 secret US files on the Afghan conflict in July, and 400,000 documents about the Iraq war in October.
Meanwhile, Interpol has issued a “Red Notice” asking people to contact the police if they have any information about Mr Assange’s whereabouts.
It said the Australian was wanted for questioning in Sweden over an alleged sex offence, which he has denied.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
