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Iran's Mousavi calls for new opposition demo
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Iran's Mousavi calls for new opposition demo
AFP - Sunday, February 28
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Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi -- seen here addressing his supporters after voting in June 2009 -- has called for the staging of a fresh anti-government rally in Tehran to prove depth of support for his so-called Green Movement among disenchanted Iranians.
TEHRAN (AFP) - – Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi Saturday called for the staging of a fresh anti-government rally in Tehran to prove depth of support for his so-called Green Movement among disenchanted Iranians.
Opposition attempts to hold anti-government protests on February 11, when the nation marked the 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution, were crushed by security forces and eclipsed by regime-sponsored mass rallies.
"I and Mr (Mehdi) Karroubi think that the Green Movement be allowed to stage a rally... in order to put an end to all speculation," Mousavi said, referring to Iran's other main opposition leader.
The supporters of the two leaders, who were defeated by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June elections they claim were massively rigged, have taken to streets whenever possible to stage anti-government demonstrations.
In an interview on his website Kaleme.com, Mousavi said the February 11 mass rally in Tehran marking the revolution anniversary was not spontaneous.
"I say that this rally was an engineered one," the former premier turned opposition leader said.
The presence of security forces on that day, he added, was "unprecedented" and the "tough (security) agents were not even tolerating a single person wearing green bands" -- the colour sported by his supporters.
"Never have we seen so many military police and security personnel in the streets. The violent and savage confrontation in Sadeqieh Square was unprecedented," he said referring to a Tehran square where protesters clashed with security forces on February 11.
Mousavi said the way the revolution day rally was organised reminded him of similar events during the era of the shah.
He condemned the use of government resources -- large numbers of buses and trains -- "to gather people for this rally."
"There is no pride in holding such an engineered gathering. It is similar to the despotic thinking and the methods used before the (1979) revolution" which led to the toppling of US-backed shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
"You cannot hold an engineered rally and then be happy, saying all is over."
Insisting that Iran was in a "crisis", Mousavi said his movement had the backing of several top Iranian clerics.
"I once again reiterate that by accepting that there is a crisis, you will actually be moving towards a solution," he said.
The dispute over the election has divided Iran's clerical elite and shaken the pillars of the regime.
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who previously has endorsed Ahmadinejad's re-election said after the February 11 rally that it was a success and had "punched on the mouth" the opposition movement and Iran's enemies.
On Thursday, in reference to opposition leaders, Khamenei said that "those who accept the identity of the regime... are part of the regime and those who with their words and action trample the values of the regime ... lose their legitimacy to remain in the regime."
Mousavi, meanwhile, issued a fresh call for holding a "free and competitive" election and also urged the release of all political prisoners detained in the post-poll crackdown.
Several thousand people have been arrested since June for their participation in anti-Ahmadinejad protests.
Most have been freed, but hundreds, including dozens of reformist figures, journalists and human rights activists, remain behind bars.
Some opposition leaders have already been handed hefty prison terms and a dozen people accused of trying to foment unrest and overthrow the regime have been sentenced to death.
Two were executed in January while the other 10 are awaiting the outcomes of their appeals.
Mousavi also asked for the reopening of his newspaper Kalemeh Sabz (Green Word) and Karroubi's reformist daily, Etemad Melli. Both publications were shut down by authorities in the aftermath of the election.
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