http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=124927#axzz1E3vVazN9
Iranian killed, dozens more arrested at banned Tehran rally Tuesday, February 15, 2011 Listen to the Article - Powered by TEHRAN: An Iranian was shot dead and dozens of opposition supporters were arrested Monday while taking part in a banned rally in Tehran to support popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, media reports said. The semi-official Fars news agency blamed opposition supporters for the shooting. "One person was shot dead and several were wounded by seditionists [opposition supporters] who staged a rally in Tehran," Fars said, without giving further details. The rally coincided with Turkish President Abdullah Gul's first official visit to Iran. Gul used a news conference with his Iranian counterpart to call on Middle Eastern governments to listen to the demands of their people. The rallies amounted to a test of strength for the reformist opposition, which had not taken to the streets since December 2009, when eight people were killed. "Witnesses say in some parts of Tehran security forces arrested dozens of protesters," opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi's Kaleme website said. Security forces fired tear gas to scatter thousands of people marching toward a Tehran square, a witness said. There were also clashes between police and demonstrators, and dozens of arrests, in the city of Isfahan, and hundreds of marchers also gathered in Shiraz, witnesses said. "Death to the dictator," some of the Tehran protesters chanted, though others marched in silence. Some chants drew comparisons between the Iranian leadership and the autocrats deposed in recent weeks in Tunis and Cairo. Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia against secular, Western-allied rulers an "Islamic awakening," akin to the 1979 revolution that overthrew the U.S.-backed shah in Iran. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hailed the "courage" and "aspirations" of the protesters and pressed Tehran to follow Egypt's example and "open up" its political system. British Foreign Secretary William Hague said: "President Ahmadinejad . told the Egyptian people that they had the right to express their own views about their country. I call on the Iranian authorities to allow their own people the same right." Large numbers of police wearing riot gear and security forces were stationed around the main squares of the capital and pairs of state militiamen roamed the streets on motorbikes. Amnesty International condemned the authorities' reaction: "Iranians have a right to gather to peacefully express their support for the people of Egypt and Tunisia," it said. Gul commented on the rise of popular discontent in the Middle East, although he did not refer to Iran. "My view is that what is happening should in no way be regarded as a surprise. In this age of communication, in an age where everybody is aware of each other, the demands and desires of the people are very realistic," Gul said. "We see that sometimes when the leaders and heads of countries do not pay attention to the nations' demands, the people themselves take action to achieve their demands." Security forces surrounded the homes of Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi preventing them joining the demonstration, their websites said. - Reuter Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=124927#ixzz1E3yoz4TC (The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb) [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/
