http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=MTI5OTgzOTg2Mg==
Banned Islamic Party: Azerbaijan arrests leader Published Date: January 09, 2011 BAKU: The leader of the banned Islamic Party of Azerbaijan was arrested after harshly criticizing a ban on headscarves in schools and calling for the ouster of the government, a party spokesman said yesterday. Azerbaijan, an oil-rich former Soviet republic on the Caspian Sea, has been wary of any spread of radical religious sentiment and wants to prevent neighboring Iran from extending its influence. Like Iranians, more than half of Azerbaijan's 9 million people are Shiites. Police arrested Islamic Party leader Mohsun Samedov and three party members Friday evening after they left the party's office, spokesman Akif Heydarli said. The three others were given jail sentences of 13 to 15 days, but Samedov was placed in the detention center of the National Security Ministry and his fate was unclear, Heydarli said. A ministry spokesman, Arif Babaev, said he had no information about the party leader's arrest. In a fiery speech at a party gathering in early January that has been posted on YouTube, Samedov denounced a recently imposed ban on girls wearing headscarves in school and called for the overthrow of the government. The headscarf ban inspired several protest rallies in Baku and southern cities late last year, and also gave new impetus to the Islamic Party. The party was banned in 1997, and its leaders were arrested and jailed on charges of working for Iranian intelligence. Azerbaijan is ruled by Ilham Aliyev, who took over in 2003 from his father, the late Geidar Aliyev, who had led Azerbaijan first as Communist Party boss during Soviet times and then as president from 1993 to 2003. After winning re-election in 2008 amid opposition allegations of vote rigging, Aliyev pushed through a constitutional referendum to scrap presidential term limits, allowing him to rule indefinitely.-AP [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Post message: [email protected] Subscribe : [email protected] Unsubscribe : [email protected] List owner : [email protected] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
