Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo wrote to Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to appeal for clemency for Amara Tochi Iwuchukwu, set to be executed by hanging on Friday.

The 21-year-old was convicted of trafficking in 727 grams (26 ounces) of heroin, estimated by authorities to be worth S$1.5 million (US$970,000; €795,930).

The letter, released by the president's office late Tuesday, cited excellent relations between the two countries.

But the Prisons Department defended the death penalty in an emailed response to questions from the Associated Press.

"The death penalty is imposed for the most serious of crimes, which sends a strong signal to would-be offenders to deter them from committing such crimes as drug trafficking, murder and use of firearms," the Prisons Department said. "We weigh the right to life of the convicted against the rights of victims and the right of the community to live and work in peace and security."

Think Center, a Singapore-based human rights group, urged the government on Wednesday to spare Iwuchukwu's life and asked for a moratorium on all executions in Singapore.

Singapore has some of the world's harshest anti-drug laws, including a mandatory death penalty for anyone found guilty of trafficking more than 15 grams (0.5 ounces) of heroin.

Also convicted and on death row in the same case is Okeke Nelson Malachy, 35, a stateless African. They were both arrested in November 2004 at Singapore's Changi Airport.

The Prisons Department said the government rejected after "due consideration" clemency appeals submitted last May by both men to the city-state's president.

It was not clear when Malachy was due to be executed, and the department said it was prison policy not to announce the dates of executions before the hangings. The department has refused to confirm that Iwuchukwu's execution will be Friday, although the Civil Liberties Organization, a Nigerian human rights group, has announced that date based on an official letter sent to the man's family.

"A young, first-time offender, arrested at 18 years - why the death penalty?" Think Center said in a statement.

The appeal follows one issued Saturday by London-based rights group Amnesty International which urged its members to push Singapore's government to grant clemency to Iwuchukwu. Amnesty says Singapore is believed to have the world's highest per capita execution rate.

Singapore's strict drug laws made international headlines - and caused an outcry in Australia - in December 2005 when the city-state executed a 25-year-old Australian heroin trafficker despite numerous appeals from the Canberra government.

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