IRAN: Iran hangs serial killer

A convicted serial killer who strangled 16 Iranian women with their headscarves has been executed, state radio reported.

 Saeed Hanai confessed to picking up the victims, mostly prostitutes, on the streets of the holy city of Mashhad.

 He lured them back to his home while his wife and three children were away, strangling them and dumping their bodies on waste ground.

 Under Iran's strict Sharia law, victims' relatives can ask for "blood money" instead of the death penalty.

 But only 4 of the 16 families demanded the payment, state radio said, and Hanai was hanged on Wednesday.

 The murders met mixed reactions in Mashhad, Iran's holiest city and a centre for Shiite Muslim pilgrimage.

 They struck fear into many residents, but others in the Islamic Republic proclaimed the women got what they deserved.