PALESTINE: The Palestinian Authority has taken steps towards resuming executions as part of a campaign to halt lawlessness and prevent revenge killings, despite the risk of European condemnation, legal and religious officials said.
A senior religious official said President Mahmoud Abbas, responding to public pressure to crack down on crime, had asked him for Islamic legal rulings that would open the way for him to carry out 16 death sentences, some issued years ago.
The move has worried human rights activists and threatens to make waves with the European Union, which is staunchly against the death penalty and is also the most generous donor to the aid-dependent Palestinian Authority.
But Palestinian officials stressed that no final decision had been made.