AMMAN - Jordan executed 11 citizens on Sunday, ending an eight-year moratorium on capital punishment, judicial sources said.The hanged men were among 120 Jordanians convicted of capital crimes in the last 10 years, according to the sources.Jordan halted executions in 2006, but a recent rise in violent crime has resulted in calls to reimpose capital punishment.The kingdom has in the past been sensitive to international concerns on human rights and civil liberties because it relies greatly on Western aid.Jordan amended its penal code in 2006 in response to concerns expressed by the UN Human Rights Council over the number of offenses punishable by death.Most of those executed in Jordan in recent decades have been common criminals, while al-Qaida-inspired Islamist detainees handed death sentences in terrorism-related security trials usually saw their convictions commuted to life imprisonment.
