Iran hangs brother of leader of (Sunni) Jundallah organization

Iran has executed convicted terrorist Abdolhamid Rigi -- the brother of the leader of (the Sunni) Jundallah terrorist group -- in the southeastern city of Zahedan, Press tv reports. Abdolhamid was hanged in a central prison in the capital of Sistan-Baluchestan province, Zahedan, on Monday after he confessed to playing a role in the assignations of civilians and security forces in the province.
Abdolhamid had also been charged with carrying out armed robberies, bombing operations and drug trafficking.
Earlier confessions made by Abdolhamid confirmed reports that Washington aided and abetted the armed terrorist group in carrying out its terror activities in Iran. In a 2009 interview with Press TV, Abdolhamid revealed that since 2005, his brother had repeatedly met with US agents in the Pakistani cities of Islamabad and Karachi and maintained communication with them through a common link. His brother, Abdolmalek Rigi, the captured ring leader of the Jundallah terrorist group, is also charged with carrying out assassinations and bomb attacks.

Reuters adds: Iranian officials say Jundollah has links to Sunni Islamist al Qaeda and support from Pakistan, Britain and the United States. London, Washington and Islamabad deny backing it.Jundollah, which accuses the government of discrimination against Sunnis, said it was behind the October 18 attack -- the deadliest in Iran since the 1980s -- that killed more than 40 Iranians, including 15 members of the Revolutionary Guards. Iran hanged 13 Jundollah members in July last year and one in November in connection with various killings and attacks.

The execution is part of a greater number of recent Iranian executions. On 10 May five Kurdish activists, one of them a woman,  were hanged in the central Evin prison in Tehran. The five, Farzad Kamangar, Ali Heidarian, Farhad Vakili, Shirin Elmholi, and Mahdi Islamian, were members of the Kurdish separatist group PEJAK that says it is fighting for Kurdish rights. PEJAK is the Iranian wing of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which is fighting for autonomy in southeast Turkey. On the same day there was a public hanging (photo) of five drugs smugglers in the city of Karaj, at 30 km of Tehran.