[Mb-civic] FW: RFE/RL NEWS - 29 April 2005

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From: Samii Shahla <shahla at thesamiis.com>
Date: Fri, 29 Apr 2005 11:25:05 -0400
Subject: RFE/RL NEWS - 29 April 2005



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>
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> RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
> ___________________________________________________________
> RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 9, No. 81, Part III, 29 April 2005
>
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> LEBANESE SHI'ITE LEADER CONTINUES IRANIAN VISIT. Expediency Council
> Chairman Ayatollah Ali-Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani met with Sheikh Abd
> al-Amir Qabalan, deputy head of the Supreme Islamic Council of the
> Shi'a Community in Lebanon, on the evening of 27 April in Tehran,
> IRNA reported. Hashemi-Rafsanjani advised his guest, "The Americans
> are after the implementation of their colonialist plans aimed at
> securing their full hegemony in the region and looting its
> resources." He noted that developments in Iraq will have a regional
> impact, and expressed the Iranian government's concern about events
> in Lebanon. Qabalan said Islamic unity would prevent the United
> States, Israel, or any other country from challenging the Muslim
> community. "Today," Qabalan told his host, "Iran is the source of
> hope for the regional nations and the world's Muslims." BS
>
> TEHRAN DAILY'S REPORTERS LAID OFF. More than 50 employees of the
> "Iranshahr" section of "Hamshahri" daily newspaper have been
> dismissed from their jobs, Radio Farda reported on 27 April.
> "Hamshahri" is affiliated with the Tehran municipality and has become
> more conservative under Mayor Mahmud Ahmadi-Nejad. Reporter Shahram
> Farhangi told Radio Farda that the layoff is illegal because the
> employees are entitled to one month notice, and he speculated that
> there is a desire for more conservative correspondents. However,
> Farhangi said, "Iranshahr" has never done political work. The
> reporters plan to demonstrate outside the "Hamshahri" headquarters on
> 30 April, Radio Farda reported. BS
>
> PROSPECTIVE IRANIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES SPEAK OUT. Expediency
> Council Chairman Hashemi-Rafsanjani reiterated on 28 April that he
> will be a candidate in the 17 June presidential election if a better
> candidate does not throw his hat in the ring, IRNA reported. "If I
> see the thing I had expected is not going to happen, I will put
> myself forward as a candidate for the presidential election," he
> said. Tehran Mayor Ahmadi-Nejad said on 28 April he will announce his
> decision on whether to be a candidate in 10-15 days, IRNA reported.
> He refused to comment on other prospective candidates or the parties,
> but he did say that the platform is more important than the
> individual. BS
>
> IRAN CONSIDERS MAYORAL ELECTIONS. President Hojatoleslam Mohammad
> Khatami proposed in Tehran on 28 April that every municipality with a
> population in excess of 1 million should hold mayoral elections,
> state radio reported. Currently, the Interior Ministry appoints
> mayors. Khatami explained, "This move will strengthen city management
> and will encourage greater involvement by the people in the affairs
> of the cities." Iran's first municipal-council elections, in 1999,
> were supposed to have the same effect. Ill-defined powers limited
> their effectiveness. BS
>
>
> IRAQI SUNNI OPPOSITION LEADER ACCUSES SHI'A OF PLAYING DIRTY. Sheikh
> Jawad al-Khalisi, secretary-general of the Iraqi Constituent
> Conference, told "Al-Hayat" that Shi'a have attempted to conspire
> against the boycott movement by courting Sunnis to participate in the
> cabinet, the daily reported on 28 April. Al-Khalisi criticized the
> use of quotas in the appointment of the cabinet. He called for an end
> to "the dirty play" of sectarian identity that he said was carried
> out in the cabinet appointments. He called the inclusion of the Sunni
> parties that boycotted the elections in the transitional government
> "a political ploy to conspire against Iraq and the Sunnis in
> particular by convincing them that they made big and disastrous
> mistakes by boycotting the general elections," al-Khalisi said. He
> also accused the United States of interfering in the formation of the
> government. KR
>
>
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