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IRAN: STUDENT LEADER TURNS UP IN WASHINGTON

Washington, 17 Nov. (AKI) - Manouchehr Mohammadi, an Iranian student leader who fled his country three months ago, has turned up in Washington where he appeared in public this week. In August, he was given persmission to leave jail to attend the funeral of his brother Akbar, who died in prison in murky circumstances. Akbar and Manouchehr Mohammadi were arrested in July 1999 following violent demonstrations by students at Tehran University. Akbar died on 30 July following a hunger strike he had begun nine days earlier. Defence lawyer, Bahram Khalilian, said there were many unanswered questions concerning Akbar's death.

In a telephone interview from Washington, Manouchehr told Adnkronos International (AKI) he had left "to continue his battle for democracy from abroad."

"Today more than in the past I am convinced of the futility of military action to overthrow the regime. The path to follow is to impose with international pressure a referendum under the UN where Iranians can freely express their views on the future of the country and on the political system that they want for Iran" .

From Iran, Manouchehr Mohammadi fled to Iraqi Kurdistan from where he reached Turkey, and presented a request for political asylum in the United States. However after this had been accepted and he had obtained a visa Mohammedi was arrested by the Turkish police
while he boarding a flight to the US.

The student leader accuses Europe and in particular Italy of "thinking too much about its economic interests and almost completely ignoring the requests for democracy of the Iranian people."

"European indifference to the continuous violations of the most fundamental human rights in Iran and the overfriendly relations of some European governments with the regime of Mahmoud ahmadinejad, not only reinforce daily the political weight of the UN but makes our people feel more and more distant from Europe" he told AKI.