Prince among seven prisoners executed by Kuwait Published duration 25 January 2017

image copyright AFP image caption The prisoners were convicted of a variety of offences including murder and rape

Kuwait has executed seven prisoners, including a member of the royal family - the first death sentences carried out in the country since 2013.

They were hanged at the central prison, according to a statement carried by state news agency Kuna.

The royal family member was named as Faisal Abudallah Al Jaber Al Sabah, who was convicted of premeditated murder and illegal possession of a firearm.

The other executed prisoners included nationals from the Philippines, Egypt, Ethiopia and Bangladesh.

They were convicted of a variety of capital offences including murder, attempted murder, kidnapping and rape.

Al Sabah was found guilty of killing another Kuwaiti prince in 2010.

BBC Arab Affairs editor, Sebastian Usher, said it was very rare, but not unknown, for members of the various royal families in Gulf states to be imprisoned or executed.

Such cases are given as proof that no-one is above the law, he added.

Among the executed prisoners was Nusra al-Enezi, a Kuwait national, who was convicted of setting fire to a tent during a wedding party for her husband, who was marrying a second wife.

The blaze killed more than 50 people.

Among the others executed, two were domestic workers, one Filipina and one Ethiopian, convicted of murdering members of their employers' families.

Related Topics Kuwait

Capital punishment