Iranian police prevent march to protest murder of opposition
leader
TEHRAN, Nov 30 (AFP) - Iranian police on Monday prevented around 1,000
people seeking to march in Tehran Monday following a memorial service for
slain nationalist opposition leader Dariush Foruhar and his wife.
Witnesses said the mourners started to march in the streets after the
service demanding an end to "repression and insecurity," but
police immediately ordered the crowd to disperse.
"Security, security," chanted the crowd, which also demanded
the arrest of the murderers. Foruhar and his wife Parvaneh were stabbed
to death at their home on November 22.
Hundreds of liberal dissidents, academics and critics of the regime
close to various opposition movements were among the several thousand people
who attended the service.
Mahmud Doai, a moderate cleric close to President Mohammad Khatami,
also attended the ceremony to pay respect on behalf of the president.
Foruhar's son and daughter, Arash and Parastu, thanked the audience
for "coming to express their loyalty to their parents and Iran."
Iranian officials and media have roundly condemned the killings and
police say they have set up a special committee to "seriously"
investigating the case. Khatami has personally pledged to pursue the matter
until those responsible for the "repugnant crime" are apprehended.
Foruhar, who headed the secular Iranian Nation's Party, was a labour
minister in the transitional government of Mehdi Bazargan, set up after
the 1979 Islamic revolution.
But he resigned shortly after amid deep disagreements with the Shiite
clery and turned into one of the fiercest critics of the Islamic regime.
