Iranian Alert -- October 15, 2003 -- IRAN LIVE THREAD PING LIST

The US media almost entirely ignores news regarding the Islamic Republic of Iran. As Tony Snow of the Fox News Network has put it, “this is probably the most under-reported news story of the year.” But most American’s are unaware that the Islamic Republic of Iran is NOT supported by the masses of Iranians today. Modern Iranians are among the most pro-American in the Middle East.

There is a popular revolt against the Iranian regime brewing in Iran today. Starting June 10th of this year, Iranians have begun taking to the streets to express their desire for a regime change. Most want to replace the regime with a secular democracy. Many even want the US to over throw their government.

The regime is working hard to keep the news about the protest movement in Iran from being reported. Unfortunately, the regime has successfully prohibited western news reporters from covering the demonstrations. The voices of discontent within Iran are sometime murdered, more often imprisoned. Still the people continue to take to the streets to demonstrate against the regime.

In support of this revolt, Iranians in America have been broadcasting news stories by satellite into Iran. This 21st century news link has greatly encouraged these protests. The regime has been attempting to jam the signals, and locate the satellite dishes. Still the people violate the law and listen to these broadcasts. Iranians also use the Internet and the regime attempts to block their access to news against the regime. In spite of this, many Iranians inside of Iran read these posts daily to keep informed of the events in their own country.

This daily thread contains nearly all of the English news reports on Iran. It is thorough. If you follow this thread you will witness, I believe, the transformation of a nation. This daily thread provides a central place where those interested in the events in Iran can find the best news and commentary. The news stories and commentary will from time to time include material from the regime itself. But if you read the post you will discover for yourself, the real story of what is occurring in Iran and its effects on the war on terror.

I am not of Iranian heritage. I am an American committed to supporting the efforts of those in Iran seeking to replace their government with a secular democracy. I am in contact with leaders of the Iranian community here in the United States and in Iran itself.

If you read the daily posts you will gain a better understanding of the US war on terrorism, the Middle East and why we need to support a change of regime in Iran. Feel free to ask your questions and post news stories you discover in the weeks to come.

If all goes well Iran will be free soon and I am convinced become a major ally in the war on terrorism. The regime will fall. Iran will be free. It is just a matter of time.

PS I have a daily ping list and a breaking news ping list. If you would like to receive alerts to these stories please let me know which list you would like to join.

Iran's Intransigence May Spur Crisis

October 15, 2003
The Baltimore Sun
Bennett Ramberg

The international community is turning up the diplomatic heat on Iran's nuclear ambitions. But judging from the investment Tehran has already made to get the bomb, the diplomacy is unlikely to bear fruit, and another Middle East crisis is looming as a result.

Pressed by the United States, the International Atomic Energy Agency imposed an Oct. 31 deadline on Iran to reveal the hidden details about its nuclear program. If Iran fails to fully comply, the IAEA appears likely to refer the matter to the U.N. Security Council for action as early as November.

The mullahs have objected vehemently. But they know the consequence is unlikely to be serious in the short term.

Iraq demonstrated that the council is largely a debating society that will spend years issuing resolutions before acting in a resolute way. And by that time, Iran can make further progress to advance its nuclear ambitions. Still, Iran can use all the time it can get. Accordingly, we should not be surprised to see Tehran act in the "spirit of cooperation" to provide the IAEA with most of the documentation it requests. Indeed, the Iranians already have become more "forthcoming" by providing a list of imported parts.

Should Iran and the IAEA come to an understanding by the end of the month, Tehran will be able to pursue a legitimate program that will bring the country up to the nuclear weapons threshold. At this point -- still a few years from now -- it will be able to legally disavow the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty through its withdrawal provision.

But before all this happens, there will be another nuclear milestone in Iran's nuclear endeavors, namely the commencement of operations at its nuclear power plant near the Persian Gulf city of Bushehr. Built with Russian assistance, the plant is scheduled to go into operation in 2004 or 2005.

Washington speculates that Tehran can extract from the reactor's spent fuel weapons-grade plutonium. As a result, for years the United States pressed Moscow to halt assistance. Russian President Vladimir V. Putin remained unbending in his recent Camp David visit with President Bush. But Moscow has agreed to repatriate the plant's spent fuel. While this would eliminate the risk of plutonium diversion in the near future -- assuming Iran complied -- in years ahead the matter may become academic as Iran develops the potential to generate its own nuclear fuel.

Watching these events with enormous anxiety is Israel, which has told the Bush administration that it will not permit Iran to go forward with a program that can produce nuclear weapons. Israel, of course, is the only nation to have successfully bombed a nuclear plant to halt proliferation when it destroyed Iraq's Osirak reactor in 1981. Then, as now, time was of the essence.

To avoid the release of radiation, Israel chose to hit the plant before operations began. The Iranian plant -- larger than Chernobyl -- poses a far greater radiological hazard.

Bennett Ramberg served in the State Department's Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs in the first Bush administration.

http://www.southbendtribune.com/stories/thisday/opinion.20031015-sbt-MICH-A7-Iran_s_intransigence.sto

Iran Can't Turn To EU Friend As Nuclear Deadline Nears

October 15, 2003
Dow Jones Newswires
Sally Jones

LONDON -- Iran's trade ties with its largest business partner, the European Union, are in jeopardy as a result of growing international concern over Tehran's nuclear program, according to analysts and sources.

Tehran has until Oct. 31 to prove to its international critics that it isn't building nuclear weapons. The head of the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog is to visit Iran Thursday to persuade the government to meet the deadline.

The E.U. has in recent days toughened its stance toward the country.

E.U. officials have threatened to scrap lucrative new trade terms under negotiation with Iran if Tehran doesn't act immediately and comply with demands by the International Atomic Energy Agency to sign an additional protocol to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

"The Europeans have indicated that talks on institutionalization of our economic relations would be extremely difficult to continue if the IAEA matter isn't resolved," said one senior Iranian diplomat.

In a statement released late last month, E.U. foreign ministers called Iran's nuclear program "a matter of grave concern" and said Tehran should sign "without delay" a new accord with the IAEA. The statement said future ties with the E.U. depended on improvement in Iran's record on non-proliferation, human rights, anti-terrorist efforts and the Middle East peace process.

The new trade agreement would pave the way for a more transparent and official framework for European companies to do business openly with Iran. U.S.-imposed sanctions on Iran have forced European firms in recent years to do business with Tehran on an ad-hoc and often erratic basis.

"The E.U. is warning Iran that their economic ties are now at risk," said a London-based consultant.

"It is sending a clear message to Tehran that economics aren't going to do it any good here, without some real assurances that it doesn't have a nuclear weapons program," another European consultant said.

EU Rhetoric May Stall New Energy Deals

Despite the U.S. sanctions, E.U. member countries and Iran have already forged strong economic ties, especially in the energy sector. Several of Europe's largest oil firms have turned their backs on the U.S. policy of isolating Tehran and plowed billions of dollars intolucrative Iranian oil and gas projects.

European industry sources say the latest warning from the E.U. doesn't mean that international oil firms would start pulling out of existing projects in Iran. "That would hardly be feasible," said one industry source.

But they warn that such deals won't be enough to shelter Tehran from any action the international community may decide to take against Iran if the nuclear issue isn't resolved.

They also say that if the E.U.-Iran trade agreement had been signed, a lot of new players - many of whom have been nervous about doing business with Iran - would have been prepared to start signing deals there.

Negotiations already on the table between European energy companies and Iranian oil officials could also be stalled because of the E.U.'s latest warning, sources said.

A consortium of Japanese oil companies recently buckled under U.S. pressure to delay talks with Tehran on signing a deal to develop Iran's giant Azadegan oil field until the nuclear issue has been cleared up.

"This is something which could limit future deals. People are worried about possible military action in Iran even if it were a small deal," said Josh Mandel at London-based consultants Control Risks.

But it is still unclear what action the international community may choose to take if the nuclear issue isn't resolved.

If Tehran goes ahead and signs the additional non-proliferation protocol, U.N. inspectors would have unfettered access to any sites in Iran they see fit.

But Tehran is naturally nervous. It feels that Washington would continue to point the finger at Iran even if suspicions over its nuclear program proved to be unfounded.

Tehran's response to the IAEA's demand has so far been contradictory.

Last week, Iranian President Mohammad Khatami said his government would do everything it could to allay concerns about its nuclear program, but added that inspectors would have to respect the country's "national security."

Khatami's remarks followed cries from the country's hard-liners for Iran to withdraw from the non-proliferation treaty.

The IAEA's board of directors is expected to refer the issue to the U.N. Security Council if they aren't happy with Iran's efforts to comply with its October deadline. The board will next meet in November.

But oil industry sources both in Tehran and Europe don't believe the recent tensions will inadvertently delay the inking of energy deals between oil majors and Iran. "It (Iran) is too important a market," one European industry source said.

A senior Iranian official argued that "it is simply impossible tactically to prevent European companies doing business in Iran." This, he added, "is a relationship which benefits both sides."

If the nuclear issue finds itself in the hands of the U.N. Security Council, international consultants say the E.U. may support some kind of punitive sanctions on Iran but nothing too restrictive. They say the main issue for the international community is still to sort out the reconstruction of Iraq.

"What we may see being put in place is something symbolic on certain things like limiting diplomatic travel," said one London-based political consultant.

-By Sally Jones, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-20-7842-9347;

sally.jones@dowjones.com

http://framehosting.dowjonesnews.com/sample/samplestory.asp?StoryID=2003101515520008&Take=1

Opinion
The outsider
In a restless Iran, Shirin Ebadi is a problem for conservatives and reformists

October 15, 2003
The Iranian

President Khatami finally reacted to Shirin Ebadi's Nobel Peace Prize, five days after the fact, and on the day of her triumphant return to Iran. He congratulated her but his praise was mixed with comments that showed discomfort, if not fear -- fear of what it could all mean to the future of the Islamic Republic.

"This award has been given to her totally on the basis of political considerations," Khatami was quoted as saying to reporters. He called the Peace Prize "not very important" compared with other Nobel awards, such as science and literature.

His comments are understandable. After all, Khatami cannot be expected to embrace Ebadi and all she stands for. The ruling conservatives are fuming from the fact that the world's most prestigious award has been given to a lawyer -- and a woman, astaghforellah -- who has been defending victims of some of the worst crimes committed by the regime. Khatami's outright support for Ebadi would have added fuel to the fire.

But although Khatami may have saved himself from the wrath of his conservative foes, his double-talk could still cost him dearly. He may now have lost the support of those who still had some hope left in his ability to bring about change. Worse still, by discrediting the just recognition of the great work of a spotless human rights activist, he has badly damaged his credibility. There were those who thought despite his political impotence, at least he was a "nice guy". No more.

***

There's no doubt that the Nobel Committee's statement on Ebadi took a stab -- several stabs -- at Islamic hardliners everywhere, especially in Iran. It called her a "conscious Moslem" who "sees no conflict between Islam and fundamental human rights." And it concluded with this:

We hope that the people of Iran will feel joyous that for the first time in history one of their citizens has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and we hope the Prize will be an inspiration for all those who struggle for human rights and democracy in her country, in the Moslem world, and in all countries where the fight for human rights needs inspiration and support.

Political? You bet it is. And for all the right reasons.

The award could not have been given to a more deserving Iranian. Ebadi represents the women of Iran who have lost more in terms of social standing and dignity than any other sector. If Iranian women have excelled here and there, which they have, it's no thanks to the Islamic Republic.

For every woman who has achieved a measure of success inside and outside the home, there are hundreds who have suffered. Women have serious doubts about their self worth in a society that was overly male-dominated even before the Islamic Republic officially relegated them to lesser citizens, thus lesser human beings in many respects.

And of course there's no need to explain the adverse effects of mandatory hijab which has so symbolized this dark theocracy.

Ebadi has defended the rights of children in a very real sense, in her legal writings, in the courts and as one of the founders of the Society for Protecting the Rights of the Child. She is undoubtedly a pioneer in this field.

But what makes Ebadi even more remarkable is that she has used her legal skills as a former judge (the Islamic Republic took that right from women as well) to defend victims of highly sensitive political crimes. She took on cases that other lawyers would not even consider because they didn't want to risk their life and livelihood by exposing the brutality of the regime's henchmen.

So although the great majority of Iranians were unaware of her quiet but courageous work, she had earned great respect in women's and human rights circles. But now the Nobel Prize has suddenly made her an international celebrity and a hero back home. And that's a big problem for Iran's conservatives, as well as reformists.

The problem for the conservatives is obvious. The Nobel Committee has simply spat on the face of the ruling clergy by calling them uncivilized, undemocratic and violators of human rights.

The problem for the reformists is more complicated. Some members of parliament, junior politicians and journalists in the Khatami camp, are happy that conservatives from Supreme Leader Khamenei to radical thugs in the streets have been badly embarrassed. On the other hand, within the context of Iran's contemporary political terminology, Ebadi is not a reformist. That's why her prestigious award annoys Khatami and his closest followers. She is not one of them.

Ebadi can best be described as a secular Muslim -- with emphasis on secular. She has not relied on religious texts to seek justice, rather she has taken the rational approach, emphasizing that human rights are not against the spirit of religion. And by choosing not to wear the scarf at a high-profile press conference in Paris after being declared the winner of the Nobel prize, she sent a clear message that she belongs to neither of the ruling factions. She appeals to Iranians who are tired of both Khamenei and Khatami. And God knows they are everywhere and from all walks of life.

***

Ebadi has become an instant celebrity, and by all standards a loveable one. The Ebadi buzz on the internet has been unprecedented. And the cheerful welcome she received from thousands of people at Tehran airport after her return from Paris could just be the beginning. Remember the last time a popular figure returned to his country from Paris? He swept away a monarchy in ten days. Ebadi is no Khomeini -- and thank God for that. But just like 1979, the masses are restless and they are desperate for a hero.

Six years ago they weren't so desperate. Most had hoped that the huge votes for Khatami, and later his reformist allies in parliament, would bring change for the better through the ballot box, that authoritarian rule would gradually come to an end, that the government would become more rational, that personal freedoms would expand, political prisoners would be freed, restrictions on the press would become less and less, and women's rights would be restored over time.

But what do we have now? We have a president who is presiding over his own demise and that of a harsh theocracy he wanted (or said he wanted) to reform. We have a parliament that is a graveyard for laws killed one by one by a panel of clerics who couldn't give a damn about reform. We have fewer newspapers that speak the truth and more journalists in jail, not to mention scores of student protesters and political activists of all colors. On the other hand, women are wearing less and less in public. But I don't think Khatami would take credit for that.

Disenchantment is rampant and deep. Iranians are angry to the point that they despise fundamentalism, all mullahs and the Islamic Republic. They have not only lost hope in reform but are becoming more and more radical and fearless in standing up to the religious establishment. It is in this environment that Ebadi's message of human rights and democracy has so electrified Iranian society. Where will it all lead? Hard to tell, but the Islamic Republic is no longer at the controls.
http://www.iranian.com/JahanshahJavid/2003/October/Ebadi/

Iran-Contra figure re-emerges as middleman for Iraq information to U.S. government

PETE YOST, Associated Press Writer Wednesday, October 15, 2003 (10-15) 11:54 PDT WASHINGTON (AP) --

A central figure in the Iran-Contra affair of the 1980s has passed allegations to the Bush administration that $150 million in enriched uranium was smuggled from Iraq into Iran five years ago and some may remain hidden in Iraq.

The information was relayed to the administration through a conservative author, Michael Ledeen. And Ledeen is now accusing the CIA of failing to aggressively check the allegation because of a long-held distrust of Manucher Ghorbanifar, a middleman in the Reagan administration's Iran-Contra swap of arms for hostages.

The CIA agrees it is dubious of information from Ghorbanifar, saying he has "proven to be a fabricator." But the intelligence agency did meet in Baghdad in recent days with Ghorbanifar's source of the uranium allegation, according to interviews.

President Bush was hurt earlier this year by bad intelligence about Iraqi efforts to buy uranium from Africa that was included in his State of the Union address to justify the war. The CIA acknowledges that information turned out to be false and says it had raised concerns about the information with a White House official months before the speech.

The new allegation is worthy of a cloak-and-dagger novel. And its delivery to the CIA illustrates the influence some prominent outside conservatives continue to have inside the Pentagon -- and the difficulty the CIA faces in sorting through allegations emanating from the Middle East.

The source of the current allegation is an Iraqi Shiite who began supplying the Pentagon with information about Iran nearly two years ago in meetings arranged by Ledeen, who has a number of friends in the Pentagon's civilian leadership. The Iraqi was brought to Ledeen's attention by Ghorbanifar, an Iranian exile.

Ledeen, Ghorbanifar and the Iraqi source all favor the overthrow of Iran's current government.

Ledeen said that two months ago Ghorbanifar called him with the uranium allegation, and Ledeen pressed the former Iran-Contra figure to check its accuracy. "He called me back and said, `As far as I can tell it's true.' On the basis of that I went to the Pentagon," Ledeen said.

"The question I have is why doesn't the CIA go look?" Ledeen asked.

CIA spokesman Bill Harlow said, "We aggressively pursue all legitimate leads on weapons of mass destruction issues."

"It is true that we have no interest in meeting with Mr. Ghorbanifar since he long ago was proven to be a fabricator and someone who sought to peddle false information for financial gain," Harlow added.

Ghorbanifar flunked two lie detector tests for the CIA, and the White House aides and covert operators involved in the arms-for-hostages deals with Iran didn't trust him, according to testimony from various investigations of that 1980s affair. Yet they continued to deal with him because of his contacts inside Iran and the hope that hostages would be released.

Ledeen, who once advised the Reagan White House on national security matters, presented the uranium story first to Pentagon official Tom O'Connell, to whom Ledeen dedicated the latest of his 17 books, entitled "The War Against the Terrormasters."

Ledeen said he was hoping the Pentagon would go to Iraq and check out the account, but was told that was the CIA's job.

O'Connell, an assistant defense secretary, said in an interview he considers Ledeen "an expert on a whole range of affairs, including terrorism.

"Anything he said would warrant the attention of the U.S. government. I am not in the intelligence business and I would have referred anything" that Ledeen provided "to the proper authorities."

In an acrimonious meeting two weeks ago, in a sport utility vehicle with dark-tinted windows being driven through Baghdad streets, the CIA told the Iraqi source that it did not believe the allegation and suspected the people he was working with only wanted money. The agency demanded a sample of the uranium, the Iraqi source said in an interview arranged by Ledeen.

The Iraqi source, who would talk only on condition his name not be used for fear of his safety, said he told the agency it could meet with three people involved in the purported shipment. Those people, including a man formerly in the Iraqi military, are said to be suffering from radiation sickness. They can take the Americans to a laboratory in Iraq where unspecified "material" is stored, the source said. If the evidence proved valuable, a reward ranging from thousands to millions of dollars would be paid, he said.

Theodore Rockwell, a retired nuclear engineer who was the technical director for Adm. Hyman Rickover's nuclear Navy program, casts doubt on the allegation.

"The idea that these people would still show symptoms of radiation sickness five years later is an indication that if they're sick, it's from something else other than radiation," Rockwell said.

Nearly two years ago, Ledeen says he arranged meetings in Rome between the Iraqi source and two Pentagon Middle East experts after Ghorbanifar brought the source to Ledeen's attention. Ledeen said the contacts provided information to the United States that later saved American lives in Afghanistan. The contacts were broken off amid complaints from some administration officials about Ghorbanifar's involvement.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2003/10/15/national1454EDT0689.DTL

No change in Iran nuke deadline: ElBaradei

REUTERS,OCT 16, 2003
THE TIMES OF INDIA

FRANKFURT: The UN nuclear watchdog chief said on Wednesday Iran could not expect an extension of an October 31 deadline to prove it does not have a secret nuclear weapons programme.

Iran denies US charges it is trying to make an atomic bomb, but after it failed to fully declare its nuclear sites the International Atomic Energy Agency (IDEA) set the deadline for Tehran to show evidence or face possible UN sanctions.

"I cannot accept that by the end of the month we will be in a position...(where) we believe we have not gotten all the information we require," IDEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei said.

Diplomats said Iran might ask for the deadline to be extended.

ElBaradei acknowledged for the first time UN inspectors had visited military sites in Iran and said Tehran had been more cooperative in recent weeks, but still had not been acting as quickly as the IDEA would like.

"We still need more information," he said. "Now is the time to come forward with a full and comprehensive declaration of all they have done. This is a must."

ElBaradei was speaking en route to Iran where he will hold talks with senior officials during a one-day visit.

He said the most pressing issue was clarification of Iran's uranium enrichment programme which the United States says is at the heart of a clandestine attempt to build an atom bomb.

Understanding Iran's enriched Uranium

Concerns about Iran's nuclear programme were fuelled earlier this year when Tehran revealed it was well on the way to enriching uranium. Iran says it needs to produce low-grade enriched uranium to use as fuel in nuclear power reactors.

Highly enriched uranium can be used in nuclear bombs and the IDEA has found traces of it at two Iranian nuclear sites. Tehran said it was due to contaminated machinery bought from abroad.

A senior diplomat said on Wednesday further samples taken from the two sites had also tested positive for enriched uranium.

"We still need more information, including the origin of this equipment," ElBaradei said. A number of diplomats have said that some of the components came from Pakistan.

He said the contamination explanation could be true, even though it had met with widespread scepticism.

"It could be contamination, it could be importing enriched uranium, it could be both," ElBaradei said, adding he hoped to move forward on the issue during Thursday's talks.

"There are a lot of questions we are still asking and we hope to get answers to them."

Diplomats said the IDEA had asked to inspect military sites in Iran to see if there was a secret arms programme.

"We have been to military sites," ElBaradei confirmed. A Western diplomat said one such site the IDEA visited was called Kolahdouz, near Tehran.

Diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, also said the UN agency's governing board would probably choose to report Iran to the UN Security Council in November, though it would almost certainly not press for any kind of sanctions yet.

ElBaradei said this attitude was premature. He said IDEA board member countries should wait for his next report on inspections in Iran before reaching a verdict.

"People need to be patient, give us the time to do our work and not come to premature conclusions. It's only a matter of weeks before (the next report)," he said.

The IDEA board meets on November 20 to consider the IAEA's judgment of whether or not Iran has complied with the resolution.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=236000

EBADI RETURNED TRIUMPHANTLY, AS KHATAMI INSULTED IRANIANS

Iran Press Service

TEHRAN 14 Oct. (IPS) “The Nobel prize for peace is not that important, as it is usually bestowed on political considerations. Look at some of the personalities who have received it, Anwar el Sadat, Yaser Arafat or Menachim Begin. But the literature or scientific prizes are most important, for they are given on researches and works”, said Iran's President Mohammad Khatami on Tuesday.

In his first reaction to the Peace Prize for 2003 offered on 10 October by the Nobel Academy of Norway to the Iranian lawyer and human rights campaigner Shirin Ebadi, a visibly jealous Khatami also warned her “to consider the feeling of Iranian people and not be elated by her new status”, as she has become the centre of the media and world’s public attention.

In interviews with the international press and press conferences in Paris, where she was on a private visit, Mrs. Ebadi said she would continue with her struggle in reforming some of Islamic laws that segregated women and warned the ruling clerics that if they do not heed people’s demands for democracy, freedom and the rule of law, they would bear all the consequences.

Speaking to reporters hours before the arrival of Mrs. Ebadi to Tehran, where she was greeted by hundreds of well wishers, including students, scholars, journalists, intellectuals and also ordinary Iranians, Mr. Khatami nevertheless added that “like other Iranians, he is also happy that a compatriot has won this prize.

When asked by a reporter from the independent students news agency ISNA why he had not issued a formal statement reacting to last week's announcement, he dismissed the question, saying “one can not issue statements over any event”.

“I wished Khatami would continue with his silence, thinking he had been forced by his hard line superiors. He has been finished politically, but now that he has insulted me, I consider him as if he was dead. Now, I think I have more respect for Khameneh’i and the next time, I would vote for the conservatives”, an angry student told Iran Press Service, expressing the sentiment of most Iranians.

The achievement of the 56 years-old Mrs. Ebadi, the first ever Iranian and Muslim woman to win the much envied prize angered the ruling ayatollahs who, via their press, not only questioned the personality and the activities of the laureate, one of Iran’s very few females becoming judge before the Islamic revolution of 1979, but also accused the judges on the Nobel panel of a “deliberate decision” in harming Islam.

Even the official reformists extended only lukewarm congratulations to Mrs. Ebadi while the hard-line Iranian press has ignored or criticized her selection, and her decision not to wear a headscarf at a news conference in Paris.

Khatami’s first words, coming five years after the event that surprised the whole word and filled Iranians with joy and pride angered so much the public that one of his closest aides in Hojjatoleslam Mohammad Ali Abtahi had to redress the situation, stating that “abusing the President’s words about Mrs. Ebadi is tantamount to abusing the prize bestowed on her for political considerations”.

However, eyewitness at Tehran airport told Iran Press Service that the authorities have taken unprecedented security precautions, as hundreds of plainclothes security men are camouflaged amongst the well-wishers.

“Most roads leading to Mehrabad international airport are closed to traffic and it seems that there are more security agents than well wishers”, one eye witness reported.

However, Mrs. Ebadi callied for the freeing of political prisoners as she was mobbed by thousands of well-wishers.

"I hope that all political prisoners will be freed", told reporters after she stepped off an Iran Air Boeing 747 from Paris.

"This prize is not only for me, but for all those in favour of peace, democracy, human rights and legality", a visibly emotional Ebadi repeated.

"The world recognises the fight of Muslim women, and this is my political message", she said. "My message for Iranians is a message of love, friendship, peace and justice", she added, according to an dispatch from the French news agency AFP.

Some 10,000 people, a majority of them women, had descended on Tehran's Mehrabad airport for her homecoming.

Many shouted political slogans, including calls for political prisoners to be set free and chants directed against embattled Khatami because of the scorn he had poured on the prize.

As the area surrounding the city centre complex was brought to a standstill by bumper-to-bumper traffic, people were seen abandoning their vehicles and covering the final few kilometres (miles) on foot to catch a glimpse of the petite and softly-spoken jurist.

Many women were clutching bouquets of flowers and pictures of the Nobel winner, and singing patriotic hymns. Most of them were also wearing white headscarves.

An organising committee set up by supporters of Ebadi to plan festivities for her return from Paris had called on women to make the symbolic gesture of wearing white rather than the usual black preferred by the Islamic regime.

"I cannot meet you tonight, there are too many people. I am sorry for this evening but, as of tomorrow, I will be at your service", she told the crowd briefly while standing on a chair.

http://www.iran-press-service.com/articles_2003/Oct-2003/ebadi_returns_141003.html

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