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Iran cancels release of American
[Al Jazeera] Iran has cancelled the planned release of Sarah Shourd, a detained US woman, because it says the legal procedure needed to secure her freedom has not been completed."Because the legal procedure on her case is not finished, her release is cancelled," the ILNA news agency quoted Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, a Tehran prosecutor, as saying on Friday. "The judiciary does not validate the published news and naturally any decision about the defendants will depend on carrying out the judicial process," Dolatabadi said. Shourd, along with Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, were arrested in July 2009 after straying into Iranian territory from Iraq. The three said that they became lost on a hike in Iraqi Kurdistan but Iran has accused them of being spies. US authorities insist that they are innocent and say they should be released immediately. An Iranian government official had said on Thursday that Shourd would be released on Saturday as an act of clemency to mark the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Medical problems Shourd, 31, has told her mother that she is suffering from serious medical problems, including a breast lump and precancerous cervical cells. Posted by: Fred 2010-09-11 |
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