Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris

Revue de Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro de la Prensa-Basm Özeti
grocer in Berlin known to the Gennan
police as an Iranian agent.
Mr. Darabi recruited Lebanese accomplices.
They targeted three leaders
of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan,
an important opponent of the.
Iranian regime, who were attending a.
Socialist International convention here.
The Kurds were tracked by Mr. Darabi
and his group to thé Mykonos restaurant,
where they were said to be plotting
anti-Tehran strategy in a back room
over dinner. Two masked gunmen burst
into theroorn, .sbotthe Kurdsand.fled.
The police immediately focused their
attention on Mr. Darabi, who had previou~Iycome
under suspicion for attacks
on Iranian dissidents.' He and his accomplices
were arrested weeks after the
shooting and the police seized guns used
in the murders that were identified as
coming from Iranian Army arsenals.
Mr. Darabi and his chief accomplice,
Abbas RhayeI, were found guilty of
murder and sentenced to life in prison.
Two other men, Youssef Amin and Mohammed
Atris, were given tenns of Il'
years and.5. .)'eaJ:$andJhr~ months. A
~
~
fifth man, Atallah Ayad;was acqUîttëd:
• Washington Hails Verdict
The United States hailed the court finding
and said that Gennany should draw its
own conclusion about ties with Iran, Reuters
reported from Washington.
"The United States commends the
courage !lf the Gennan prosecutor, the
Gennan Judges and the witnesses, " said
the State Der.artment spokesman Nicholas
Burns. 'We are confident that the
verdict was based on the court's objective
evaluation of the evidence. "
INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE, Ii'RIDAY,APRIL Il, 1997
r No Break in Ties Expected Despite Policy Shift
By Tom Buerkle
International Herald Tribune
BRUSSELS - The European Union
decided on a mass recall of ambassadors
from Tehran on Thursday and suspended
its so-calledcritical dialogue with Iran
after a Gennan court ruled that the Islamic
regime had ordered the assassinations
of four people in Berlinin 1992.
The decision was an embarrassing
and abrupt policy reversal for the 15-
nation EU, which has maintained its
dialogue with Iran since 1992 despite
vigorous pressure from the United
States.
The immediate impact of th~ decision
will be to cancel a meeting between EU
and Iranian officials scheduled for May
13. The Union's foreign ministers will
consider further action at their regular
monthly meeting on April 29 in Luxembourg,
but officials said there were
no immediate proposals for tougher
measures and no expectation that the EU
would break off relations with Iran.
The move, which was agreed on at a
meeting of senior officials in Brussels
late Thursday - although Italy and
Greece did not immediately go along
with the recall- came at the request ôf
Gennany. It has been the main advocate
of EU contacts with Iran and is Tehran' s
biggest European trading partner.
Bonn persuaded most of its partners
that the EU had no choice but to toughen
its stance after the ruling Thursday by
the Berlin court.
"Proof has been found of the implication
of the Iranian authorities in
that terrorist attack," a Dutch official
c