A man condemned to die by hanging put on an amazing...

A man condemned to die by hanging put on an amazing show of defiance - by planting a kiss on the rope he was about to swing from.
Murderer Ahmad Dowlatyari also shouted at crowds who gathered at a soccer pitch in the Iranian capital of Tehran to watch him die. He screamed: "I am not scared. My life is over - I want to go with a smile."
Dowlatyari, who refused to wear a blindfold for his execution, stared out at the 500 ghoulish spectators, then was hoisted by the noose that sealed his fate.
Public hanging is more frequent in Iranian provinces than in the more cosmopolitan Tehran. The punishment is favoured by Islamic hardliners as a way to deal with rising crime in the Islamic Republic. A senior police official called for even tougher punishments, including a wider practice of amputations.
"If a thief has a hand amputated, he won't try to steal again," newspapers quoted Iran's deputy police chief Brigadier-General Amir Ali Amiri as saying.