Iraq Executes Former Al-Qaeda Leader, Three Others

Al-Qaeda's former Baghdad chief, Munaf Abdul Rahim al-Rawi, and three other men convicted of terror-related offenses have been executed.

The Iraqi Ministry of Justice said that the four men were hanged on April 1.

Rawi was once described as the "governor of Baghdad" for Al-Qaeda in Iraq.

He was arrested in March 2010 and blamed for two major attacks in Baghdad the previous year that killed 250 people.

The UN mission in Iraq, the European Union, and international human rights groups have called on Baghdad to stop the use of capital punishment.

The death penalty in Iraq was suspended for more than a year after the U.S.-led invasion of the country in 2003.

The Iraqi government reinstated it in 2004, saying that it would help curb the widespread violence.

Based on reporting by AFP, Globaltimes.cn, and RFE/RL's Radio Free Iraq