Iraq Hangs 13 Insurgents

Two suspected insurgents who were captured in Al-Najaf, Iraq, on March 6 (epa) March 9, 2006 -- The Iraqi government says 13 insurgents were hanged in the country today.

A cabinet statement named only one of them, Shukair Farid, a former policeman who allegedly confessed that he had worked with Syrians to enlist fellow Iraqis to carry out assassinations.

Three convicted murderers were hanged last September, the first executions to be carried out since Saddam Hussein was overthrown in 2003.

Capital punishment was suspended in Iraq during the formal U.S. occupation, which ended in June 2004, and was later reinstated.

Meanwhile, two roadside bombs exploded in western Baghdad today, killing at least nine people and injuring several others. The bombs apparently targeted Iraqi police patrols but all the casualties reported were civilians.

The U.S. military says two soldiers were killed since March 7 in fighting in the western Anbar Province.

(AFP, AP, Reuters, dpa)