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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Muslim Hard-Liners Cheer Iran Vote Outcome |
| 2005-06-25 |
| Governments of Muslim countries offered muted congratulations in response to Iran's presidential election, while the United States and Britain said the vote failed to give Iranians a true choice for their future. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the conservative mayor of Tehran, beat his relatively moderate rival Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani and was declared Iran's next president early Saturday. His triumph extends the conservatives' control in Iran and could lead to a return to social restrictions that were commonplace after the 1979 Islamic revolution. In Indonesia, the leader of a hard-line Islamic group praised the outcome. "I'm glad and happy to know Iran's result," said Irfan Awwas, a leader of Majelis Mujahiddin Indonesia, a hard-line Islamic group. Its founder, Abu Bakar Bashir, is in jail for his role in the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people. He said Iranians apparently think Rafsanjani is "more fit to manage international relations, especially with Western countries, but not to lead the country." Pakistani Muslim scholar Komaruddin Hidayat attributed the hard-liner's victory to anger over U.S. foreign policy. "America has put Islam in a corner," Hidayat said. "America attacked Iraq based on false reasoning just as it did in Afghanistan. This has given conservatives the chance to gain power in some Islamic countries." Russian President Vladimir Putin offered congratulations to Ahmadinejad, and offered to continue nuclear cooperation after Russia completes construction of a reactor in Iran's southern port city of Bushehr. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 IOW, the Mad Mullahs or Upper Elites legally can keep their expensive BMWS, Power, and Control, while the Masses have their Yugos or cheaper brands/Products, and are kept Regulated and Limited on pain of death, disappearance, andor bodily harm - and the difference between Hard Islam and Leftism-Communism is .................. .....................??? Sub-IOW, the "People" freely and willingly voted, nay DEMANDED, to kept legally enslaved! |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2005-06-25 21:38 |
| #1 I'm glad I don't work at Bushehr. |
| Posted by: Tom 2005-06-25 11:29 |