Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris
Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris
Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris
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Revue <strong>de</strong> Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro <strong>de</strong> la Prensa-Basm Öz<strong>et</strong>i<br />
Iran Cleric<br />
MakesPlea<br />
For Unity<br />
KhalOOnèi Seeks to Mend<br />
Split Over Mayor's Arrest<br />
By Douglas Jebl<br />
New York Times Sen'ice<br />
CAIRO -' Iran's supreme lea<strong>de</strong>r<br />
called Thursday for unity as part of a<br />
renewed effort to head off a political<br />
rupture over a legal cas~ involving the<br />
mayor of Tehran, who was freed from:<br />
prison Wednesday.<br />
In remarks broadcast on Iranian television,<br />
Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei<br />
warned Iranians against trying to choose<br />
be~een rival branches of government.<br />
The branches' differences have been laid<br />
bare in the case, a flashpoint for' Illo<strong>de</strong>rates<br />
and conservatives who have been<br />
vyingto shape the country's course.<br />
But it remained apparent that many<br />
Iranians saw the episo<strong>de</strong> as a symbol of<br />
the broa<strong>de</strong>r struggle for power.<br />
In Tehran on Thursday, hundreds of<br />
well-wishers flocked to the home of the<br />
mayor, Gholam-Hossein Karbaschi,<br />
where they"chanted welcoming slogans;<br />
distributed celebratory swe<strong>et</strong>sand erected<br />
a huge portrait of their heroat the end<br />
of his stre<strong>et</strong>. The visitors inclu<strong>de</strong>d top<br />
ai<strong>de</strong>s to Presi<strong>de</strong>nt Mohammed Khatami,<br />
whose government has fiercely <strong>de</strong>fen- '<br />
<strong>de</strong>d the' mayor against, cprruption<br />
charges brought by the conservativedominated<br />
judiciary and its ,lea<strong>de</strong>r,<br />
Ayatollah Mohammed Yazdi. '<br />
Mr. Karbaschi, 44, isa close ally of<br />
Mr. Khatami's, the mo<strong>de</strong>rate cleric ",ho<br />
won an ups<strong>et</strong>victory in May over candidates<br />
supported by the conservative<br />
establishment.<br />
Many 'Iranian mo<strong>de</strong>rates regard the<br />
case against Mr. Karbaschi as part of a<br />
broa<strong>de</strong>r bid to obstruct Mr. Khatami's<br />
agenda. During the Il nights the mayor<br />
spent in jail, Qteir'animosity had begun<br />
to erupt in stre<strong>et</strong><strong>de</strong>monstrati6ns.<br />
The <strong>de</strong>cision tofree Mr. Karbaschi on<br />
bail was an undisguised effort by Ayatollah<br />
Khamenei to <strong>de</strong>fuse those tensions,<br />
accordÜ1g to Iranian' analysts and diplomats,<br />
as was the ayatollah's television<br />
appearance Thursday on the occasion'of<br />
the Eid al Ghadir, a Shiite Muslim feast.<br />
In his remarks, Ayatol~h Khamenei said<br />
that Iranians were "duty-bound" to support<br />
both the government and the judiciary<br />
and that "all forces" should<br />
"join hands to keep hoisted the flag of,<br />
Islam with amity and sympathy."<br />
As if to un<strong>de</strong>rscore that message,<br />
Ayatollah Khamenei was pictured seated<br />
in a chair, while on the floor beneath him<br />
were Presi<strong>de</strong>nt Kahatami; Ayatollah<br />
. ~a\\adrnll' \:-l"U.-iilll'lll~'""<br />
Mayor Gholam-Hossein Karbaschi ofTehran, after his reléase on bail.<br />
Yazdi; and Ali Akbar Nateq-Nouri, the<br />
conservative speaker of Parliament.<br />
Un<strong>de</strong>r the law; Mr. Karbaschi could,<br />
have been held without bail for a olonth.<br />
Bilt his early release does not mean the<br />
charges against him have been dropped;<br />
he is still expected to face a public trial,<br />
although no date has been s<strong>et</strong>. .<br />
A numberofMr. Karbaschi's top subordiriates<br />
have been convicted of similar<br />
corruption charges as part of a broad<br />
inquiry begun by judicial officials began<br />
shortly after Mr. Khatami's victory.<br />
• U.S. Defends Persian Broadcasts<br />
,The State Department said a planned<br />
increase in U.S.-fmanced radio broadcasts<br />
to Iran waS <strong>de</strong>signed to "enrich"<br />
domestic political <strong>de</strong>bate, not to un<strong>de</strong>r~<br />
mine the Iranian government, Reuters<br />
reported from Washington.<br />
Un<strong>de</strong>r pressure from the Republicanled<br />
Congress, the State Department has<br />
been discussing how to increase Persianlanguage<br />
broadcasts without <strong>de</strong>,railing,<br />
tentative steps toward U.S.-IraOlan reconciliation<br />
initiated by Presi<strong>de</strong>nt<br />
Khatan\i.<br />
"The purpose of these broadcasts is<br />
not to beain anti-government' propagllnda<br />
int() Iran," the State Department<br />
, spokesman, James Rubin, said Wednesday."Rather,<br />
this. new service wo~ld<br />
provi<strong>de</strong> !.Il0re<strong>de</strong>~lled factua~ report~ng<br />
on politJ.cal, social and foreign pollcy<br />
issues affecting Iran.<br />
,'But no one should misinterpr<strong>et</strong> this as<br />
an attempt to un<strong>de</strong>rmine the Iranian government<br />
or as in any way diluting the very<br />
, clear position we. have that we are encouraged<br />
by the <strong>de</strong>velopments in Iran."<br />
INTERNATIONAL<br />
HERALD TRIBUNE.<br />
APRIL 17, 1998<br />
.<br />
102