Australian outcry over execution

SINGAPORE executed Australian heroin trafficker Nguyen Tuong Van early yesterday in a case that triggered an outcry in his country.

Australia's prime minister said the execution would damage relations between the countries.

"The sentence was carried out this morning at Changi Prison," Singapore's Home Affairs Ministry said in a statement. It said Nguyen had failed in his appeals to the Court of Appeal, and to President SR Nathan for clemency.