Taliban hold public executions

KABUL, May 1 (AFP) - Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia have publicly executed two alleged murderers in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif and the eastern city of Laghman, the official Radio Sahariat said Tuesday.

It said Janat Gul, who was accused of killing his wife, was executed in Laghman on Tuesday before thousands of spectators, while Jura (eds: one name), who murdered his wife, a couple and their baby, was executed Monday in Mazar-i-Sharif.

The station said a third person sentenced to death for killing his brother was pardoned by the victims' children in Kabul.

The Islamic militia's Supreme Leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, had approved the death sentences handed down by the local courts.

In three cases the alleged murderers had confessed their guilt "without compulsion," the Taliban mouthpiece said without reporting the method of execution.