Eight Iraqis executed over assassinating clergy in 1998

The Iraqi authorities on Saturday executed eight persons who were convicted of assassinating two clergymen in 1998 and of an attempt to kill a third. Iraqi dailies published on Sunday said, quoting a statement released by the general security directorate, that the eight executed persons admitted to the assassination of Ayatollah Ali al-Ozawi and Sheikh Ali Muhammad al-Brujerdi in 1998 and the attempt to assassinate Ayatollah Ali al-Yetsani in 1996.