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MikeyChalupa · 06-18-2003, 07:09 AM

Quote:

Iranian Women Set Fire to Selves in Paris Protest
Wed Jun 18, 7:31 AM ET Add World - Reuters to My Yahoo!

By Thierry Leveque

PARIS (Reuters) - Two Iranian women set themselves ablaze in Paris on Wednesday during a protest against a mass round-up of left-wing Iranian exiles in France the previous day, including their leader Maryam Rajavi.

Marzieh Babakhani, about 40, was rushed to hospital with severe burns on Wednesday morning after setting her clothes alight at a protest of about 100 exiles at an Interior Ministry office near the Eiffel Tower, witnesses said.

Segigheh Mojaveri, 38, did the same at midday and was taken away badly burned, said exiles, who added police were rounding up protesters to remove them from the scene.

By Wednesday morning, police released all but 26 of the 159 exiles detained in Tuesday's raids, which also netted suitcases of $100 bills worth at least eight million dollars, police said.

Judiciary sources said Rajavi and the others still detained could face jail on charges of suspected terrorist activity.

"We condemn the shameful deal with the mullahs," chanted the crowd, accusing France of staging the raids as a favor to the Islamic republic they oppose.

Tehran has long called for a crackdown on the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), whose offices in the Paris suburbs were raided on Tuesday.

The Paris demonstration was the third dramatic protest in Europe against the round-up.

On Tuesday, a man set himself on fire outside the French consulate in London. Exiles pelted the Iranian consulate in Hamburg with stones and fruit and four forced their way into the building, wrecking furniture and spraypainting slogans on walls.

The NCRI said the Paris detainees had begun a hunger strike.

An NCRI official at the protest, who said he had just been released after almost 24 hours in police custody, told Reuters the exiles were especially incensed at the detention of Rajavi.

He said Babakhani had two brothers killed by Iranian authorities and was living as a refugee in France.

AIMED AT MUJAHIDEEN

Tuesday's raids were aimed at the People's Mujahideen, the military arm of the NCRI which is based in Iraq (news - web sites) and was recently disarmed by U.S. forces there. Their leading figure, Massoud Rajavi, is the NCRI leader's husband.

Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy has accused the Mujahideen of wanting a "rear base" in France since being disarmed in Iraq.

Police said the detainees were rounded up on suspicion of planning terrorist attacks in a raid ordered by leading anti-terrorist investigating judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere.

Police also seized computers and communications equipment in the main NCRI compound at Auvers-sur-Oise north of Paris.

Two members of the NCRI foreign affairs committee, Farid Soleimani and Shahin Gobadi, told Reuters they were released around 4 a.m. (0200 GMT) after almost 24 hours in custody. They said they were denied contact with their lawyers or families.

The NCRI said the arrests would spark anger in Iran, but diplomats in Tehran said the group was unpopular there even among those opposed to Iran's Islamic clerical establishment.

In an unusual convergence of views, both Washington and Tehran -- who have not had diplomatic relations since the 1979 Islamic revolution -- praised the round-up on Tuesday.

The Mujahideen joined the Islamic revolution against Iran's shah but later broke ranks with the clerical leadership. Based in Iraq since the 1980s, their fighters clashed with U.S. forces in the recent war but then reached a truce with them.

The European Union (news - web sites) put the group on its list of banned "terrorist" organizations in May 2002 but did not include the NCRI. Washington also lists the Mujahideen as "terrorists."

The pictures that go with this story are pretty graphic. Has anyone else noticed that Yahoo! is releasing more and more graphic pictures with their news stories? Not saying good or bad, just saying I've noticed it.

-Mikey