Iran 'executes Kurdish activist'

A Kurdish opposition activist convicted of carrying weapons and working against national security has been executed in western Iran, local media have said.

Kordestan province judiciary chief Ali Akbar Gharoussi told the semi-official Fars news agency that Ehsan Fatahian had been hanged in Sanandaj prison.

Human rights groups said Mr Fatahian no evidence was given at his trial proving he had engaged in armed operations.

Officials said he had admitted to being a member of the Marxist group Komalah.

They accused Komalah of waging a low-level insurgency for decades in Iran's northern Kurdish regions, which border Iraq.

The International Campaign for Human Rights for Iran had earlier appealed to the Iranian government to halt the execution of Mr Fatahian, who was originally sentenced to 10 years in jail for conspiring against national security by being a member of Komalah.

Subsequently, the charge of "mohareb", or enmity against God, had been added to his indictment, and his sentence changed to execution, the rights group said in a statement.