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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Iran says detained Germans admitted breaking law |
| 2010-10-16 |
| [Arab News] Iran's prosecutor-general has said two Germans who were jugged in Iran when they tried to interview the son of a woman sentenced to be stoned to death had admitted breaking the law, state media reported on Friday. Germany has said it is seeking the release of two news hounds seized on Monday after meeting the son of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, whose death sentence for adultery was shelved last month following a global outcry. A German Foreign Ministry front man told a news conference in Berlin there was no new information regarding the pair and German diplomats had been unable to speak to them. Adultery is punishable by stoning under Iran's Islamic law. Ashtiani also faces a charge of being complicit in the murder of her husband, a crime for which she could face death by hanging. President Mahmoud Short RoundAhmadinejad has denied Ashtiani was ever sentenced to stoning and says foreign media whipped up the story to discredit Iran. The Germans' detention risks worsening relations as the European Union tries to bring Iran back to talks over its nuclear program, which the West fears may be aimed at creating an atomic bomb. Iran says the Germans entered on tourist visas and had no right to act as news hounds. Accredited correspondents working for foreign media need official permission to travel outside Tehran. |
| Posted by:Fred |