CAIRO -- For years, Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri criticized Iran's supreme leader and argued that the country was not the Islamic democracy it claimed to be, but his words seemed to fall on deaf ears. Now many Iranians, including some former government leaders, are listening. Ayatollah Montazeri has emerged as the spiritual leader of the opposition, an adversary the state has been unable to silence or jail because of his religious credentials and seminal role in the founding of the republic. He is widely regarded as the most knowledgeable religious scholar in Iran and once expected to become the country's supreme leader until a falling-out with Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the 1979 revolution and Iran's supreme leader until his death in 1989. Now, as the Iranian government has cracked down to suppress the protests that erupted after the presidential election in June and devastated the reform movement, Ayatollah Montazeri uses religion to attack the government's legitimacy."We have many intellectuals who criticize this regime from the democratic point of view," said Mehdi Khalaji, a former seminary student in Qum and now a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "He criticizes this regime purely from a religious point of view, and this is very hurtful. The regime wants to say, `If I am not democratic enough that doesn't matter, I am Islamic.' "He says it is not an Islamic government."
CAIRO -- For years, Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri criticized Iran's supreme leader and argued that the country was not the Islamic democracy it claimed to be, but his words seemed to fall on deaf ears. Now many Iranians, including some former government leaders, are listening.
Ayatollah Montazeri has emerged as the spiritual leader of the opposition, an adversary the state has been unable to silence or jail because of his religious credentials and seminal role in the founding of the republic.
He is widely regarded as the most knowledgeable religious scholar in Iran and once expected to become the country's supreme leader until a falling-out with Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the 1979 revolution and Iran's supreme leader until his death in 1989.
Now, as the Iranian government has cracked down to suppress the protests that erupted after the presidential election in June and devastated the reform movement, Ayatollah Montazeri uses religion to attack the government's legitimacy.
"We have many intellectuals who criticize this regime from the democratic point of view," said Mehdi Khalaji, a former seminary student in Qum and now a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "He criticizes this regime purely from a religious point of view, and this is very hurtful. The regime wants to say, `If I am not democratic enough that doesn't matter, I am Islamic.'
"He says it is not an Islamic government."
Two of Iran's top pro-reform figures say police used excessive force against anti-government protesters who took to the streets last week on the sidelines of state-sanctioned rallies to mark the 30th anniversary of the U.S. Embassy takeover.Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mahdi Karroubi say authorities even struck women on their heads with batons. In a Web posting Saturday, they called such treatment an ugly act that was not even seen during the shah's response to the 1979 Islamic revolution that toppled him.Mousavi and Karroubi have led a protest movement rejecting the legitimacy of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's June re-election.
Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mahdi Karroubi say authorities even struck women on their heads with batons. In a Web posting Saturday, they called such treatment an ugly act that was not even seen during the shah's response to the 1979 Islamic revolution that toppled him.
Mousavi and Karroubi have led a protest movement rejecting the legitimacy of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's June re-election.
ISTANBUL -- Few here doubt that the case began with something threatening: in June 2007, 27 hand grenades and fuses were found in the attic of a house in an Istanbul slum. Investigators claimed they were stashed there by an ultranationalist retired officer and they were later linked to an elaborate coup plot. But the question many are asking, inside and outside Turkey, is whether the Islamic-inspired government is exaggerating the threat in order to wage a much larger battle against this moderate Muslim nation's secular establishment.Since 2007, 300 people have been detained during the investigation of an underground group known as Ergenekon, including a writer of erotic novels, four-star generals and other military officers, professors, editors and underworld figures -- some of whom appear to have committed no offense greater than speaking in favor of Turkey as a secular state."Ergenekon has become a larger project in which the investigation is being used as a tool to sweep across civic society and cleanse Turkey of all secular opponents," said Aysel Celikel, a former justice minister and president of a charity that finances the secular education of underprivileged rural girls. "As such, the country's democracy, its rule of law and its freedom of expression are at stake."In all, 194 people have been charged, accused of trying to overthrow the government as part of Ergenekon (pronounced ahr-GEN-eh-kahn), named after a mythic Turkish valley. Prosecutors contend that they planned to engage in civil unrest, assassinations and terrorism to create chaos and undermine the stability of Turkey as groundwork for a coup.
ISTANBUL -- Few here doubt that the case began with something threatening: in June 2007, 27 hand grenades and fuses were found in the attic of a house in an Istanbul slum. Investigators claimed they were stashed there by an ultranationalist retired officer and they were later linked to an elaborate coup plot.
But the question many are asking, inside and outside Turkey, is whether the Islamic-inspired government is exaggerating the threat in order to wage a much larger battle against this moderate Muslim nation's secular establishment.
Since 2007, 300 people have been detained during the investigation of an underground group known as Ergenekon, including a writer of erotic novels, four-star generals and other military officers, professors, editors and underworld figures -- some of whom appear to have committed no offense greater than speaking in favor of Turkey as a secular state.
"Ergenekon has become a larger project in which the investigation is being used as a tool to sweep across civic society and cleanse Turkey of all secular opponents," said Aysel Celikel, a former justice minister and president of a charity that finances the secular education of underprivileged rural girls. "As such, the country's democracy, its rule of law and its freedom of expression are at stake."
In all, 194 people have been charged, accused of trying to overthrow the government as part of Ergenekon (pronounced ahr-GEN-eh-kahn), named after a mythic Turkish valley. Prosecutors contend that they planned to engage in civil unrest, assassinations and terrorism to create chaos and undermine the stability of Turkey as groundwork for a coup.
JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israeli aircraft attacked two suspected weapons-making factories and a smuggling tunnel in the Gaza Strip early Sunday in what the military said was retaliation for Palestinian rocket fire into southern Israel.The airstrikes, which wounded at least seven people -- including one seriously -- came despite an announcement by Gaza's Hamas rulers that the territory's military factions had all agreed to stop firing rockets. The Hamas announcement came late Saturday, after the rocket attack.Hamas' interior minister, Fathi Hamad, said the proclaimed halt in rocket fire was designed to prevent Israeli retaliation and provide stability for Gaza, which continues to suffer from the aftermath of a massive Israeli military offensive in December and January.The offensive killed some 1,400 Palestinians, according to U.N. and Palestinian estimates, and damaged or destroyed thousands of homes. Thirteen Israelis also were killed. Most of the damage in Gaza has not been repaired due to an Israeli blockade that has prevented construction materials from entering the territory.Israel said it launched the offensive to crush Palestinian rocket squads, who had severely disrupted life in southern Israel for years. While Hamas has all but halted its own rocket fire, smaller militant groups have continued to launch attacks, though the number of attacks has decreased dramatically.
JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israeli aircraft attacked two suspected weapons-making factories and a smuggling tunnel in the Gaza Strip early Sunday in what the military said was retaliation for Palestinian rocket fire into southern Israel.
The airstrikes, which wounded at least seven people -- including one seriously -- came despite an announcement by Gaza's Hamas rulers that the territory's military factions had all agreed to stop firing rockets. The Hamas announcement came late Saturday, after the rocket attack.
Hamas' interior minister, Fathi Hamad, said the proclaimed halt in rocket fire was designed to prevent Israeli retaliation and provide stability for Gaza, which continues to suffer from the aftermath of a massive Israeli military offensive in December and January.
The offensive killed some 1,400 Palestinians, according to U.N. and Palestinian estimates, and damaged or destroyed thousands of homes. Thirteen Israelis also were killed. Most of the damage in Gaza has not been repaired due to an Israeli blockade that has prevented construction materials from entering the territory.
Israel said it launched the offensive to crush Palestinian rocket squads, who had severely disrupted life in southern Israel for years. While Hamas has all but halted its own rocket fire, smaller militant groups have continued to launch attacks, though the number of attacks has decreased dramatically.
Iran has launched a series of air war simulations in an effort to show off its defense capabilities to potential attackers. Tehran recently rejected a deal by the UN Security Council to ship its enriched uranium abroad. Iranian armed forces are conducting five days of war games involving simulated attacks on the country's nuclear sites, state-owned Press TV and Al-Alam television channels reported. The simulations are intended to show off Iran's defense capabilities amid increasing pressure from the West over its uranium enrichment program. Tehran has long denied accusations that it intends to use its program to produce nuclear weapons. "Due to the threats against our nuclear facilities it is our duty to defend our nation's vital facilities and thus this maneuver covers Bushehr, Fars, Isfahan, Tehran and western provinces," said Brigadier General Ahmad Mighani, the head of army air defense, on Saturday.
Iranian armed forces are conducting five days of war games involving simulated attacks on the country's nuclear sites, state-owned Press TV and Al-Alam television channels reported.
The simulations are intended to show off Iran's defense capabilities amid increasing pressure from the West over its uranium enrichment program. Tehran has long denied accusations that it intends to use its program to produce nuclear weapons.
"Due to the threats against our nuclear facilities it is our duty to defend our nation's vital facilities and thus this maneuver covers Bushehr, Fars, Isfahan, Tehran and western provinces," said Brigadier General Ahmad Mighani, the head of army air defense, on Saturday.
"I anticipate that the plea will be not guilty," said defense attorney John Galligan. Asked if he was considering an insanity plea for his client, who faces 13 counts of premeditated murder, Galligan said, "I'm fairly confident that that's going to have to at least be examined. And that's problematic. But we haven't reached that stage yet." Galligan said he has also learned that his client, who will be tried in a military court, may face additional charges for the Nov. 5 shooting spree in Fort Hood, Texas. He said he was alerted to the new charges during a pre-trial confinement hearing before a military magistrate held in Hasan's San Antonio hospital room Saturday. After the hearing at the Brooke Army Medical Center Saturday, Galligan said his client is paralyzed from the chest down and is a not a flight risk. The military magistrate ruled that Hasan will stay at Brooke Army Medical Center for now, but the military has the option of moving him to another medical facility or to jail. According to Galligan, Hasan is paralyzed, is incontinent and "in severe pain." "He is an individual in need of constant medical attention," Galligan said. "He has no sensation from his chest down." Previously, Galligan had said Hasan was paralyzed from the waist down. Galligan questioned the speed with which the legal process is moving.
"I anticipate that the plea will be not guilty," said defense attorney John Galligan.
Asked if he was considering an insanity plea for his client, who faces 13 counts of premeditated murder, Galligan said, "I'm fairly confident that that's going to have to at least be examined. And that's problematic. But we haven't reached that stage yet."
Galligan said he has also learned that his client, who will be tried in a military court, may face additional charges for the Nov. 5 shooting spree in Fort Hood, Texas. He said he was alerted to the new charges during a pre-trial confinement hearing before a military magistrate held in Hasan's San Antonio hospital room Saturday.
After the hearing at the Brooke Army Medical Center Saturday, Galligan said his client is paralyzed from the chest down and is a not a flight risk. The military magistrate ruled that Hasan will stay at Brooke Army Medical Center for now, but the military has the option of moving him to another medical facility or to jail.
According to Galligan, Hasan is paralyzed, is incontinent and "in severe pain."
"He is an individual in need of constant medical attention," Galligan said. "He has no sensation from his chest down."
Previously, Galligan had said Hasan was paralyzed from the waist down. Galligan questioned the speed with which the legal process is moving.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- The Pakistani government has some advice the Obama administration may not want to hear as it contemplates sending additional U.S. troops to neighboring Afghanistan: Negotiate with Taliban leaders and restrain India. Pakistan embraces U.S. efforts to stabilize the region and worries that a hasty U.S. withdrawal would create chaos, but Pakistani officials worry that thousands of additional American soldiers and Marines would send Taliban forces retreating into Pakistan, where they're not welcome.Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani's office said Friday that he told visiting CIA Director Leon Panetta of "Pakistan's concerns relating to the possible surge of the U.S. and ISAF forces in Afghanistan which may entail negative implications for the situation in Baluchistan," the Pakistani province that borders Afghanistan to the south. The Pakistanis' advice is almost diametrically opposed to the strategy outlined by Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the U.S. military commander in Afghanistan: Don't send additional forces to protect Afghan cities, but send them to outposts along the Pakistani border -- where McChrystal has withdrawn troops.It's just one example of how Pakistan, a critical U.S. ally in the struggle against Islamist extremists and a major recipient of American military aid, continues to deal differently with the violence that threatens not only the U.S.-backed government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, but also impoverished, nuclear-armed Pakistan
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- The Pakistani government has some advice the Obama administration may not want to hear as it contemplates sending additional U.S. troops to neighboring Afghanistan: Negotiate with Taliban leaders and restrain India.
Pakistan embraces U.S. efforts to stabilize the region and worries that a hasty U.S. withdrawal would create chaos, but Pakistani officials worry that thousands of additional American soldiers and Marines would send Taliban forces retreating into Pakistan, where they're not welcome.
Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani's office said Friday that he told visiting CIA Director Leon Panetta of "Pakistan's concerns relating to the possible surge of the U.S. and ISAF forces in Afghanistan which may entail negative implications for the situation in Baluchistan," the Pakistani province that borders Afghanistan to the south.
The Pakistanis' advice is almost diametrically opposed to the strategy outlined by Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the U.S. military commander in Afghanistan: Don't send additional forces to protect Afghan cities, but send them to outposts along the Pakistani border -- where McChrystal has withdrawn troops.
It's just one example of how Pakistan, a critical U.S. ally in the struggle against Islamist extremists and a major recipient of American military aid, continues to deal differently with the violence that threatens not only the U.S.-backed government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, but also impoverished, nuclear-armed Pakistan
Nine days before the Honduran elections are scheduled to take place, Channel 36, Cholusat Sur, has been taken off the air once again. A parallel signal has been transmitting over the station. Initially airing pornography, now the same movie has been on repeat for the second day in a row. This new attack on the press comes the morning after Micheletti announced that he would be leaving the Presidency `provisionally' from November 25 until December 2 for the country "to concentrate on the electoral process and not on the political crisis."
WASHINGTON -- Anxious that Saturday's party-line Senate vote to open debate on a health care overhaul gives them little maneuvering room, Obama administration officials and their Congressional allies are stepping up overtures to select Senate Republicans in hopes of winning their ultimate support. The two moderate Republican senators from Maine, Susan Collins and Olympia J. Snowe, say Senator Harry Reid, the majority leader, reached out to them after he unveiled the Senate measure, encouraging them to bring forward their ideas and concerns. Ms. Collins also received a personal visit from a high-level Obama emissary, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, a former senator who worked closely with her on various issues as part of a bipartisan coalition. After the party-line vote of 60 to 39 on Saturday night to move to a full health care debate, including votes on significant amendments, both sides are acutely aware of the wavering in their ranks and are trying to figure out how to play the numbers. Republican leaders conceded that the Democratic victory, while not conclusive, improved the odds that a bill would pass. "Ordinarily, when you do start debate on a bill like this, it ends up passing," Jon Kyl of Arizona, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, said on "Face the Nation" On CBS. "When these senators, for example, say, `Well, we'll vote to start the bill but that doesn't guarantee our vote at the end,' the pressure at the end of the process is enormous."
The two moderate Republican senators from Maine, Susan Collins and Olympia J. Snowe, say Senator Harry Reid, the majority leader, reached out to them after he unveiled the Senate measure, encouraging them to bring forward their ideas and concerns. Ms. Collins also received a personal visit from a high-level Obama emissary, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, a former senator who worked closely with her on various issues as part of a bipartisan coalition.
After the party-line vote of 60 to 39 on Saturday night to move to a full health care debate, including votes on significant amendments, both sides are acutely aware of the wavering in their ranks and are trying to figure out how to play the numbers.
Republican leaders conceded that the Democratic victory, while not conclusive, improved the odds that a bill would pass. "Ordinarily, when you do start debate on a bill like this, it ends up passing," Jon Kyl of Arizona, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, said on "Face the Nation" On CBS. "When these senators, for example, say, `Well, we'll vote to start the bill but that doesn't guarantee our vote at the end,' the pressure at the end of the process is enormous."
