Supporters of Irans regime have desecrated the grave of Neda Soltan, the student who became a symbol of the opposition after she was shot dead during an anti-goverment demonstration on June 20.
The incident was confirmed by Ms Soltans fiancé, Caspian Makan, who fled from Iran after being released on bail following 65 days in prison. A recording of Ms Soltans mother weeping and cursing those responsible has been posted on the internet.
Mr Makan, 38, also disclosed that the regime tried to force him and Ms Soltans parents to say that she was killed by the opposition, not by a government militiaman on a motorbike as eyewitnesses have claimed. A documentary to be shown on BBC Two next week contains an unseen clip of demonstrators catching the militiaman seconds after the shooting.
Mr Makan, who is in hiding said: The breaking of Nedas gravestone broke the hearts of millions of freedom-loving people around the world. The repressors, believing they can stifle the cries for freedom, have even attacked, beaten, threatened and insulted Nedas parents. This is while the Islamic Republic of Iran denies Nedas murder.
On the internet recording Hajar Rostami, Ms Soltans mother, weeps over her daughters grave and wails: Woe on me! Wheres my childs tombstone? . . . My child has no gravestone . . . You bastards! Why dont you leave my child alone?
On November 4 Ms Soltans parents were attacked and detained when they joined a protest in Iran. One source told The Times that members of the security forces taunted them, saying that they could meet the same fate as their daughter.
Officials had been pressurising Ms Soltans parents to say that their daughter was shot not by a government militiaman a basij but by enemies of Iran seeking to embarrass the regime. They were told that if they did so she would be declared a martyr and they would receive a pension.
In October Ms Soltans mother said: Neda died for her country, not so that I could get a monthly income from the Martyr Foundation. If these officials say Neda was a martyr, why do they keep wiping off the word martyr in red which people write on her gravestone? . . . Even if they give the world to me I will never accept the offer.
Arash Hejazi, the doctor who tried to save Ms Soltans life and who now lives in exile in Oxford, told The Times: The beating and arrest of Nedas parents, the shattering of her tombstone, and the torturing and imprisonment of her boyfriend only shows how far this government is ready to go.
Continued on Page 47
Posted by: ed ||
11/16/2009 09:21 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his American counterpart Barack Obama warned that time was running out for diplomacy to resolve a crisis over Iran's nuclear program.
The U.S. had been willing to give Iran time to decide whether to accept a U.N.-brokered deal meant to allay suspicions it is after atomic bombs but which has drawn Iranian objections, a U.S. diplomat said a week ago.
On Sunday Obama, speaking after talks with Medvedev on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific meeting in Singapore, suggested patience was running low.
"Unfortunately, so far at least, Iran appears to have been unable to say yes to what everyone acknowledges is a creative and constructive approach," Obama said while seated next to Medvedev. "We are running out of time with respect to that approach."
But taking a softer tone against Iran Medvedev said: "We are prepared to work further" to ensure Iran's nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes.
"Thanks to joint efforts the process of (the Iran talks) has not stopped but we are not completely happy about its pace. If something does not work there are other means to move the process further," he said.
Continued on Page 47
Posted by: Fred ||
11/16/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Tis the season for the Lucy Van Pelt - Charlie Brown sports show.
Posted by: ed ||
11/16/2009 1:47 Comments ||
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#2
Just make sure Lucy removes the football before he try's to punt it.
Iran's parliament has condemned Saudi interference in the conflict in Northern Yemen that has lead to the evacuation of around 240 villages in the war-ridden area.
During a Sunday session, devoted to debate the qualifications of the three remaining members of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's 21-member cabinet, 250 of the parliament's lawmakers called on Islamic states to take action against the killing of innocent Muslims in Yemen.
"How can the custodian of the two holy mosques of Islam bring himself to permit the killing of innocent Muslims in the forbidden months," Parliament speaker Ali Larijani asked referring to King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia.
Known as the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, the Saudi kings preserve the role as protector of the two holiest cities of Islam, Mecca and Medina, which had traditionally been the role of the Caliph.
Islam has forbidden its followers from waging war or fighting during the four lunar months of Shawwal, Rajab, Dhu al-Qi'dah and Dhu al-Hijjah.
Sana'a started a massive crackdown on Shia fighters known as Houthis in August after years of irregular battles against them. The Houthis have taken up arms against the Sunni-dominated central government in protest to its repression and discrimination against the Shia minority of the county.
Some 150,000 Yemenis have been forced out of their homes in the beleaguered north because of the ongoing Operation Scorched Earth which has been also joined by Saudi military forces and fighter jets.
The anti-government fighters accuse Saudi Arabia of collaborating with the Yemeni government in its military offensive on Shias and of targeting civilians in villages far from its territory.
The Saudi military assistance started on November 4 on claims that Houthis had penetrated 'Saudi territory.' The fighters say the Saudis have started shelling their villages with illegal phosphorous bombs, which are capable of inflicting severe burns.
They also charge Sana'a with employing al-Qaeda mercenaries and terrorists to help the army with its campaign against Houthis.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
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Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
