[Mb-civic] FW: US May Deny Visa for Ahmadinejad !!!

[villasudjuan]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Samii Shahla <shahla at thesamiis.com>
Date: Fri, 5 Aug 2005 11:55:34 -0400
Subject: US May Deny Visa for Ahmadinejad !!!

FT

US may deny visa for Iran leader's UN address
>By Guy Dinmore in Washington
>August 5 2005
>>
The Bush administration is considering taking the unprecedented step of
preventing a visting head of state from addressing the United Nations in New
York by denying a visa to Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, Iran's new elected
conservative president.

Officials said a decision rested on investigations into whether Mr
Ahmadi-Nejad was involved in the 1979 US embassy hostage crisis and the
killing of an Iranian-Kurdish dissident leader in Vienna in 1989. Iran
denies his involvement in either event.

A top Iranian official confirmed Thursday that Mr Ahmadi-Nejad, who took
office on Wednesday, planned to address the UN Millennium Summit and its
annual General Assembly next month. His US visa application is expected to
be submitted on Friday.

The trip would be ³mutually beneficial to the US and Iran², the official
added. The State Department said: ³It is premature to comment until a
request for a visa has been made.²

An official said agencies were examining whether there was sufficient
evidence to deny a visa and how this would be justified under international
law.

Stephane Dujarric, UN spokesman, said: ³The host country agreement calls on
the US not to impose any impediment to the travel to the UN of any
representative of a member state on official business.²

Yasser Arafat, Palestine Liberation Organisation chairman, was denied entry
in 1988. He addressed the UN in Geneva. Mohammad Khatami, Iran's previous
president, spoke at the UN several times, most notably just weeks after the
September 2001 attacks, which he condemned.

Former US diplomats allege they recognise Mr Ahmadi-Nejad as one of their
captors, but the Central Intelligence Agency has found no confirmation of
this.

Additional reporting by Mark Turner at the UN

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URL: http://news.ft.com/cms/s/f1dc9ce6-055e-11da-97da-00000e2511c8.html

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