Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq

   BAGHDAD, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi government said it executed 27 "terrorists" in Baghdad after they were convicted of crimes against the Iraqis, the prime minister's media office said late Wednesday.

   "The death penalty was carried out on 27 terrorists in Baghdad, and the criminals were executed after they were convicted in Iraqi courts of carrying out acts of murder and rape in several Iraq's provinces," the office said in a brief statement.

   The death penalty, once abolished after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, was reinstated by the Iraqi authorities. Enditem