Convicted double murderer Gregory Bryant-Bey, 53, was put to death Wednesday, corrections officials in Ohio said.

The condemned man died by lethal injection at 10:41 am (1641 GMT), prison officials in Lucasville, Ohio announced.

The Toledo Blade newspaper reported that Bryant-Bey died proclaiming his innocence, insisting in his final statement that he had been `framed.`

TEHRAN, Oct 21, 2007 (AFP) - Five people have been hanged in public for drug trafficking offences in the eastern Iranian city of Birjand, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported on Sunday.

The latest executions bring to 226 the number of people hanged in the country this year, according to an AFP count compiled from local press reports and witnesses.

The figure is already well above that for 2006, when at least 177 people were hanged, according to Amnesty International.

WASHINGTON, Oct 21, 2007 (AFP) - A month after the US Supreme Court agreed to wade into the lethal injection debate, executions are effectively on hold across the nation as courts and politicians sit tight amid a legal limbo.

On September 25, the country's highest court agreed to examine whether lethal injections -- used in virtually all US executions -- are 'cruel and unusual' punishment, as banned under the US constitution.

BAGHDAD, Oct 19, 2007 (AFP) - Iraq's main Sunni bloc called on Friday for the release of a high-ranking general who served as defence minister under Saddam Hussein and is on death row for his role in a 1988 Kurdish massacre.

The National Concord Front (NCF) said the execution of general Sultan Hashim al-Tai would be 'revenge on patriots on behalf of the enemy,' in allusion to Shiite Iran.

BAGHDAD, Oct 18, 2007 (AFP) - The Iraqi government said on Thursday that the execution of Saddam Hussein's notorious hatchet man 'Chemical Ali', which has been delayed for weeks due to Muslim holidays and legal hitches, will happen 'in the coming days.'

Asked in a rare appearance at the White House whether Ali Hassan al-Majid would be hanged soon for genocide, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told reporters: 'I think so, yes, in the coming days.'

WASHINGTON, Oct 18, 2007 (AFP) - Saddam Hussein's notorious hatchet man 'Chemical Ali' will be executed 'in the coming days,' Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Thursday in a rare appearance at the White House.

Asked whether Ali Hassan al-Majid would be hanged soon, Dabbagh told reporters: 'I think so, yes, in the coming days.'

BAGHDAD, Oct 18, 2007 (AFP) - The planned execution for genocide of Saddam's Hussein's notorious hatchet man 'Chemical Ali' has run into a legal hitch, two weeks after the passing of a deadline for his hanging.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki last month delayed the hanging of Ali Hassan al-Majid until after the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr which ended on Monday, well beyond the October 4 legal deadline for his execution.

TEHRAN, Oct 18, 2007 (AFP) - Iran has hanged nine murderers, including a woman, at Tehran's Evin prison, in the latest of a growing number of executions, a newspaper reported on Thursday.

The woman, identified only as Fakhteh C., and the others were hanged on Wednesday after being found guilty of various murders, the Tehran Emrouz newspaper reported. It said that some raped their victims before killing them.

TEHRAN, Oct 18, 2007 (AFP) - Iran hanged nine people convicted of murder, including a woman, at Evin prison in Tehran in the latest of a growing number of executions in the Islamic republic, a newspaper reported on Thursday.

The woman, identified only as Fakhteh C., and the eight others were hanged on Wednesday after being found guilty of various murders, the Tehran Emrouz newspaper reported. It said that some raped their victims before killing them.

TEHRAN, Oct 17, 2007 (AFP) - Iran Wednesday hanged three convicted rapists in public in the southern city of Shiraz, the latest in a spate of executions officials say are aimed at improving security in society.

The three men, identified as Vahid E., Mohammad A. and Ahmad E. were hanged in public for having abducted two women and raping them, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.