‘The Danger is Very Close’

The Iranian Student Movement Up to the Minute Reports ^ | August 30, 2003 | Newsweek

[Pan_Yans Wife]

‘The Danger is Very Close’

August 31, 2003 Newsweek Babak Dehghanpisheh and Christopher Dickey

“Be careful and alert,” warned the Ayatollah, “because the danger is very close to us.” Above him rose the golden dome of the Imam Ali Mosque in the Iraqi city of Najaf, one of the holiest shrines in Islam.

The ayatollah, Mohamad Baqir al Hakim, had waited through more than two decades of Iranian exile to return here to worship with his followers and to shape the destiny of his country. The American overthrow of Saddam Hussein gave him that chance. His younger brother now sits on the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council. But with Iraq sliding toward chaos, al Hakim saw the risks ahead for him and for his people. He spoke passionately, on the edge of tears. “One day,” he said, “our movement may be wiped out.”

MINUTES LATER the turbaned cleric left the mosque through its south gate. A handful of bodyguards flanked him, their walkie-talkies to their ears, shouldering through masses of worshipers toward a street where vendors sold posters of Shiite Islam’s martyred heroes. Among them were pictures of 24 relatives of al Hakim’s murdered by Saddam, superimposed on a map of Iraq dripping with blood. the hakim family, it read. a family of knowledge and martyrdom.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Brief yourself on the events in Iran, the people, the issues that will likely effect all of our lives

"If you want on or off this Iran ping list, Freepmail DoctorZin”

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Please post current comments on this on-going discussion thread. – Click Link Below!

"If you want on or off this Iran ping list, Freepmail DoctorZin”