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Disqualified reformists woo alienated supporters in Iran

Leader of conservative group hints sit-in may have dire fallout

Proponents question why parliamentarians failed to fight for more sensitive issues but staged a sit-in when they were barred from running in elections

Borzou Daragahi
Special to The Daily Star

TEHRAN: Reformists here once galvanized thousands of organizers and turned out millions of voters in a peaceful mass movement to change the nation’s harsh clerical dictatorship from within. But the latest assault by conservative clerics against the reformists shows how the movement has faltered.

Eighty reformist politicians are holed up in Iran’s Parliament as part of a protest against a decision not to let them and thousands of others run in Feb. 20 parliamentary elections.

The issue has sparked a political crisis in Tehran. Mohammad Ali Abtahi, an adviser to reformist President Mohammad Khatami, told reporters Wednesday that a number of ministers had already submitted their resignations, which they would withdraw only if the Council of Guardians, the 12-man committee which barred the candidates, would give way.

Reformist politicians have threatened to resign before, but never have.

After two weeks of talks with each other and constituents, the deputies said they will likely announce Thursday whether they will continue, end or intensify their protest.
All week long they have tried to drum up support among an apathetic populace. In a crusty walk-up building in the old section of town, a group of skeptical young men and women gathered this week to hear the politicians make their case.
“We, the sit-in strikers at the Parliament, hope to be able to block this major diversion from the correct path,” Fatemeh Haqiqatjou, a Tehran parliamentarian, told the audience of around 50. “Either the people will trust us, or the mistrust that has spread among all Iranians will prevail and the strikers won’t be supported.”
But the listeners, mostly former student activists still nominally attached to the reformist cause, were unimpressed. “As you can see,” said Javad Alaei, an erstwhile reform activist, “no one gives them serious support.” The former student activists questioned why the parliamentarians failed to hold a sit-in strike when the Council of Guardians refused to approve a law outlawing torture; or when students were imprisoned and held without charge; or when the government first stalled, then botched, then quashed an investigation into who ordered a series of assassinations of dissidents; or when conservative judges shut down reformist newspaper after newspaper, hauling journalists off to jail.

“On other, more sensitive issues they didn’t show any real will to fight; there was no protest or action on their part,” said Sajad Qoroqi, political editor of a Tehran college newspaper. “But now that they themselves have been barred from running, they’re coming forward and claiming that they’re defending reform and the rule of law.”

Led by Khatami, the reform movement pulled off a string of electoral victories, taking control of the presidency, Parliament and local government councils in the late 1990s.
But they failed to build and sustain a mass movement to top their electoral victories. Indeed, Khatami and others in the reform movement often discouraged their supporters from taking their grievances to the streets or organizing political rallies.

Instead, the reformists were content to wrangle with their opponents within Iran’s convoluted parliamentary and legal framework, a constitutional theocracy which has an elected government but is ultimately controlled by powerful conservative clerics.

Though they had the votes, reformists were not able to wrest control of Iran’s security, intelligence, judiciary and armed forces from the tight grasp of conservative clerics.

And as Iran’s youthful, dynamic population hurtles toward modernity embracing the internet, satellite television, foreign languages and fast-food the conservatives thwarted any attempts to substantially change Iran’s political system.

Many reformists themselves concede their strategy has failed, dousing the political hopes of Iranians and turning them off from the political process.

“Unfortunately, the time that people were present on the political scene and were expecting more effective actions from their representatives has passed,” Mohsen Kadivar, a reformist cleric and member of parliament, told his colleagues in Parliament earlier this week.

Faced with their own imminent political extinction at the hands of conservative clerics, they are now trying to woo back their lost shock troops: students, women, youth and the intellectuals clamoring for new jobs and new opportunities and new freedoms.

The protest itself has taken on the shape of an old-fashioned campus sit-in.

The representatives and their allies, make speeches and drink tea. Strategy sessions run into the early morning, with breaks for prayer.

For their part, conservatives have dismissed the protesters as hypocrites who call for the rule of law but break it when it goes against their favor.

Kayhan, a conservative daily, described the sit-in as an attempt to sow “tension and unrest and insurgency” on the eve of the elections while Habibollah Asgaroladi, leader of a conservative group, warned of a crackdown.

“If the sit-in continues, it may carry unpleasant consequences for those organizing it,’’ he said, according to the official Iranian news agency.

The daily Jomhouri Eslami, in a Jan. 13 editorial, called the reformist protesters tools of the “European, American, and Zionist propaganda machines.” But the Council of Guardians itself may be playing out a carefully scripted move aimed at further weakening the reformists.

At the behest of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the spiritual and political leader who appoints the Council of Guardians and has ultimate authority, the council has begun reviewing the disqualifications. It has already said it would re-instate the candidacies of at least 200 of the several thousand barred from running, but says the process might last until just before the elections and that it will bar candidates that do not meet its “criteria,” even if they hold seats now.

“Lawmakers whose speech or behavior suggest that they have had no loyalty to Islam or the constitution will remain disqualified,” said council spokesman Ebrahim Azizi.
Conservatives could allow some reformists already holding office to run while barring others including candidates representing Iran’s nationalist and secular political strains as well as ethnic minorities. That would split the reformists even further from the population.

But reformists say they are aware of that possibility and insist they will not let it happen.

For now, many Iranians including 70 percent of students at Amir Kabir University, a former political hotbed say they will not vote, preferring to let the reformists lose. They say they prefer the clarity of an all-out confrontation between the people and the government to the agonizing pace of reform.

“Allowing the conservatives to win would be better than this situation,” said Alaei, a grizzled veteran of the political battles who’s been jailed three times. “With the reformists in power, if you criticize the government, you’re criticizing the reformist government. If you don’t criticize the government, your supporting this bizarre economic and political system.”

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/22_01_04/art26.asp

Iran denies getting nuclear material from N. Korea

Time is GMT + 8 hours
Posted: 22 January 2004 0943 hrs

DAVOS, Switzerland : Iranian President Mohammad Khatami has given new assurances that Iran's nuclear programme is peaceful and denied that Iran has any improper ties with North Korea.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum, where he delivered a keynote address, he insisted Iran never owned weapons of mass destruction and "vehemently" opposed production of nuclear arms.

Mr Khatami also strongly denied that Iran had received nuclear materials from North Korea and ridiculed US President George W Bush's claim that tough US policies had made Iran a good nuclear citizen.

"Iran has never had weapons of mass destruction," the reformist president told reporters.

"We vehemently oppose the production and manufacturing of nuclear weapons and for this reason we have extensive, sincere and honest cooperation with the IAEA," the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Mr Khatami also issued a strong response to reports that North Korea had supplied Iran with nuclear material.

"I categorically deny the shipment of nuclear material by North Korea to Iran. We have nothing to hide," he said.

The Iranian president said his country has a stronger relationship with South Korea than the communist North.

Mr Khatami said Iran reserved the right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

Tehran has been accused by Washington of seeking to develop nuclear weapons.

Mr Khatami rejected any suggestion that it changed its nuclear policy for fear of the United States after the Iraq war as suggested by Mr Bush in his State of the Union speech Tuesday.

He said Iran was already a participant in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and other international efforts to curb the spread of weapons.

He attributed any progress to Tehran's dialogue with European countries instead.

Mr Khatami also challenged Mr Bush's claim of success in Washington's Middle East policies, citing its failure to capture Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden or find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

Despite speculation of the beginnings of a thaw in relations between Iran and the US since the Iraq war, Mr Khatami said Tehran had yet to see any signs of respect and a desire for an equal dialogue from Washington.

But he had noted a change in tone by the US administration that once characterised Iran as part of an "axis of evil."

"I hope the changes we have witnessed in tone used by the United States will not be a tactical ploy but a real strategic change in policies and attitudes."

On the political crisis unfolding in Iran, Mr Khatami said he has no intention of stepping down as president, despite the fact that many cabinet ministers are said have submitted their resignations.

He expressed confidence that his showdown with conservative is heading towards a settlement after free elections are held. - CNA

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/europe/view/67417/1/.html

Iran not bowed to US pressure on NPT

IRIB
2004/01/22
09:39:58 Þ.Ù
Davos, Jan 22 -

Iranian President Mohammad Khatami on Wednesday rejected comments by US President George W. Bush that its cooperation with the IAEA was a sign of giving in to US pressure.

"I do not accept that. Before all this fanfare, we were an official member of the NPT. We have signed the CTBT, and a convention on the prohibition of biological and chemical weapons and have consistently said that all our nuclear activities are within the rules," Khatami told reporters following his keynote speech at the forum.

Indicating that US foreign policy has not been successful, Khatami said: "America, with all its might, invaded Afghanistan in order to quash Bin Laden. Has the threat of al-Qaeda disappeared? And Iraq was occupied under the pretext of WMD. Clearly the pu blic opinion was deceived because there are no WMD."

Asked whether he would use the opportunity of the international forum for a dialogue with co-participant US Vice President Dick Cheney, Khatami reiterated that a prerequisite for holding a political dialogue is "mutual respect" on both sides, however adding that he "hoped" the "changes we have witnessed in the US tone are not tactical" ones.

Questioned by a journalist on whether Iran could ever recognise an Israeli state, the Iranian President responded by saying that Tehran has a "moral debate with Israel and the world which is that occupation does not bring legitimacy."

"It is very dangerous to occupy a land and claim its ownership, but we do not intervene in the affairs of others and we respect the decisions of the Palestinian people, whatever their decisions (be)."

Turning to whether reforms were possible in Iran with its given constitition, Khatami reminded that through the course of its history, Iran has called for peace and democratic values, adding that the "Islam I want, is one that is compatible with freedom and progress, and I believe that these have been taken into account in the current constitution."

"No doubt our people need and desire democracy, one that is compatible with its religious and cultural values and the present constitution has the capacity to make such a democracy possible," Khatami stressed.

"I and our nation will do our best to achieve this goal," he promised, adding that however "any constitution can be changed by a referendum of the people (...) if there is a need and the time is ripe."

Responding to reported allegations that Tehran was supporting Shiites in Iraq, the Iranian Head of State said that ethnic rivalry is always a cause of concern but that there "has never been a conflict between Sunni and Shiites in Iraq."

"We have always said: One man, one vote in Iraq," Khatami added saying that Tehran considers a "democratic government" compatible with its cultural and religious background as the "best" one for its neighbour.

In response to a final question on alleged shipments of nuclear material to Iran, Khatami said Tehran "vehemently denies" the transfer of such material to Iran by North Korea.

"We have nothing to hide, and even before signing the additional protocol, we declared that we accept the terms of the IAEA."

The press conference with Khatami in Davos came on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) which opened earlier during the day in the presence of over 30 heads of state and government and some 2,200 participants, mostly political and economic per sonalities, from around the world for five days of talks themed "partnering for prosperity and security."

http://www.iribnews.com/Full_en.asp?news_id=196978

Rice: US Must Pursue Nuanced Policy Toward Iran

January 22, 2004
Dow Jones Newswires
Rebecca Christie

WASHINGTON -- U.S. National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice said the U.S. faces a more complicated situation in Iran than it did in Iraq and must craft its policies accordingly.

"People go back and forth in Iran in ways they never did in Saddam Hussein's Iraq," Rice said in a radio interview Wednesday. "A lot is going on in Iran. It's a complicated place and I think we want to have a nuanced policy in dealing with it."

Rice said the U.S. has made "a little bit of progress" in its efforts to disarm Iran and move the country toward democracy. However, she said Iran's regime still will require unified pressure from outside to continue recent reforms and make more progress.

"The international community is going to have to stay very tough on this," Rice said. "They're not going to be able to let the Iranians have the wiggle room that's been the case in the past."

Rice was one of several senior officials interviewed by Fox News Radio host Tony Snow during a White House "media day" for broadcast reporters. The interview aired on KLIF 570 AM radio in Dallas.

During the interview, Snow quizzed Rice on the outlook for another major battle besides the war on terrorism: Super Bowl XXXVIII. Due to time constraints, her response couldn't be broadcast, but Snow reported back on the bottom line.

"She's with the bookies," the talk show host said. "She thinks New England's gonna win, unless of course Carolina gets lucky."

-By Rebecca Christie; Dow Jones Newswires; 202 862 9249.
rebecca.christie@dowjones.com

http://framehosting.dowjonesnews.com/sample/samplestory.asp?StoryID=2004012201210010&Take=1

Iran Reformers will "Lose Parliament"

January 22, 2004
Reuters
Gulf News Online

A senior conservative official said Iran's reformists would lose their comfortable majority in parliament in elections next month even if a ban is lifted that keeps thousands of liberals from running.

Reformist allies of President Mohammed Khatami are in uproar over the move by the hardline Guardian Council – an unelected body with sweeping powers – to bar nearly half of the 8,200 hopefuls from running in the February 20 election.

But Mohammed Javad Larijani, head of international affairs in the conservative-controlled judiciary, said reformists would pay the price for not addressing voters' prime economic concerns.

"Regardless of the political skirmishes that are going on now, the reformists are going to lose at least 50 seats in parliament," Larijani said in an interview on Tuesday. "Even if the reformists hold a majority (in the next parliament), it will be a very shaky majority," he said.

A reduced majority would make life even more difficult for Khatami, whose government has struggled to overcome resistance to his reforms from conservatives who fear they could undermine Iran's Islamic values and clerical system.

Reformists won around 200 of parliament's 290 seats in 2000 elections and accuse the Guardian Council of trying to help conservatives reverse that defeat with the candidate bans.

But Larijani, who described himself as a "liberal conservative" and has advocated an Iranian rapprochement with arch-enemy the United States, said conservatives did not need to rely on the Guardian Council to beat reformists in the election.

"I think we should go easier on them (reformists) because they are going to lose enough seats to make us happy." Disillusioned with failed promises of reform and declining living standards, many Iranians have lost faith in Khatami and the reformists after nearly seven years in power.

Larijani, who speaks fluent English after spending six years at university in California before the 1979 Islamic revolution, said criticisms of Iran's election system were unjust.

"With this same system we and the left (now reformists) have changed power frequently over the last 25 years," he said.

He noted most of the conservative establishment, including himself, had strongly endorsed Ali Akbar Nateq Nouri in the 1997 presidential election which Khatami won in a landslide.

"So in my view this system is working. It cannot block the will of the people," he said. He said reformist MPs had wasted an oil price bonanza which could have been used to improve the economy.

http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=108677

Extremists Beat Up Iran Reformists

January 22, 2004
AFP
Yahoo News

TEHRAN -- Iranian hardliners beat up speakers at a protest meeting against the wholesale rejection of pro-reform election candidates, hours before the expiry of a reformists' ultimatum warning of a poll boycott.

Some 200 members of the radical Islamic Hezbollah movement burst into the meeting in the ultra-conservative town of Hamedan in western Iran late Wednesday, the state news agency IRNA reported Thursday.

Speakers were condemning the decision of the conservative Guardians Council to ban hundreds of reformists from standing in February 20 parliamentary polls for allegedly failing to satisfy the Islamic qualifications.

The assailants injured a number of speakers, including student leader Said Razavi Fagih, reformist MP Hossein Loghmanian and Hossein Mojahed, a head of the main pro-reform party, Islamic Iran Participation Front (IIPF), IRNA said.

The reformist daily Yas-e No reported that Mojahed was hospitalised with his nose and an arm broken.

The 12-member Guardians Council which screens all legislation and candidates plunged Iran into one of its most serious crises when it disqualified 3,605 of the 8,157 people seeking to stand for the parliament, or Majlis.

Most were reformists. Among those figuring on the blacklist were prominent figures in the reform movement and some 83 incumbent MPs.

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei last week ordered the council, all of whose members he directly or indirectly appoints, to be less stringent in its vetting procedure.

The council has since reinstated some 300 candidates, but none of them were sitting MPs.

On Sunday, 18 reformist parties in a coalition said in an open letter to President Mohammad Khatami that they would decide on Thursday whether to boycott the election.

The coalition, led by the IIPF of Khatami's brother Mohammad Reza Khatami, said it would make its decision based on the extent of the Guardians Council's review process.

Several dozen reformists MPs were Thursday continuing a sit-in protest which was launched on January 11 when the Guardians Council issued its blacklist, triggering charges of an attempted "coup" in the Islamic republic.

"So far, the files of 260 (rejected) candidates have been approved," said Seyed Mohammad Jahromi, an election official in the council, quoted by the state television.

He said 10 commissions have been set up to re-examine the vetting process and that their decisions would be "announced gradually over the coming days".

Despite the ultimatum laid down by deputies, the Guardians Council has until January 30 to inform the interior ministry, which is in charge of organising the polls, of the final approved list of candidates, he said.

According to Tehran newspapers, five of Iran's vice presidents, including Massumeh Ebtekar, and six ministers, including Interior Minister Abdolvahed Mussavi-Lari, have handed in their resignations.

But Khatami was upbeat on Wednesday, saying at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland he had no plans to resign and that the crisis was moving towards a settlement.

"I still intend now to carry on with my duties and service to the people," the reformist president said. "The course of the events is going, hopefully through the grace of God, towards such a free and competitive election."

The US State Department, meanwhile, said Washington was keeping a close eye on the crisis.

"We think it's important that Iran's leadership permit free and fair elections through an electoral process that meets international standards and that government needs to be responsive to the needs of the people," deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said.

"This is an evolving situation and there are a lot of developments every day," he told reporters. "We are watching these events carefully."

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20040122/wl_afp/iran_vote_040122122313

That Iranian Nuclear Headache

January 22, 2004
National Review Online
Henry Sokolski

The IAEA's key role.

Some problems get worse even after they've been tackled. Tehran's admission late last week that it is still building uranium-enrichment centrifuges needed to make nuclear bombs is surely a case in point. Late last October, Germany, France, and Great Britain announced that Tehran had agreed to freeze this activity. Now, it appears they were bamboozled. If Europe and the U.S. are serious about capping the Iranian nuclear threat, they need to get the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to admit that it still can't be sure Iran is out of the bomb-making business and to demand that IAEA members (including Russia) suspend nuclear cooperation with Tehran until it can.

A review of recent developments suggests why at least this much is needed.

On September 12, 2003, the IAEA all but found Iran in violation of its Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) obligations. The agency urged Tehran to suspend all uranium-enrichment and -reprocessing activities and advised it to open up to more intrusive inspections by signing an additional inspections protocol. The IAEA's deadline for these actions was October 31, 2003. On October 21, 2003, Tehran agreed with Germany, France, and Great Britain that it would sign the protocol and "voluntarily suspend all uranium-enrichment and -reprocessing activities as defined by the IAEA." The quid pro quo for this announcement was a promise that Iran could expect greater access to European high technology. Finally, in December, nearly two months after the IAEA's deadline, Tehran signed the additional inspections protocol and volunteered to adhere to it even without ratification. This produced sighs of relief in Europe and Washington.

What it didn't do, though, was address two problems. First, the protocol still allows Iran to come within weeks of getting nuclear weapons and, second, Iran has accelerated its nuclear program and done so legally. How is this possible? Mostly, it's a result of how the NPT is read. The treaty's popular interpretation permits NPT members to pursue even the most dangerous nuclear activities — i.e., ones that bring nations within weeks of producing nuclear weapons — provided these activities are open to occasional inspection. So long as this is how the treaty is viewed, intrusive inspections — even of the sort Iran just agreed to — will only confirm that allowable nuclear activities are underway. This will hardly reveal, much less guard against, what Iran is pursuing: We already know it is nearing completion of two worrisome, declared nuclear projects.

The first is a large light-water reactor being built with Russian help at Busheir. This undertaking is roughly 80 percent complete. Shortly after the IAEA's September ultimatum, Moscow announced it would delay completion of the plant — originally slated to go online late this spring — by about a year. Late last week, however, Russian and Iranian officials met and announced that they planned to accelerate Busheir's construction.

This is worrisome. Many experts insist that light-water reactors are "proliferation resistant." But all reactors produce plutonium usable for bombs. That's why we have the IAEA — to safeguard against "peaceful" reactors being put to military use. With large light-water reactors, like that at Busheir, over 50 bombs' worth of near-weapons-grade plutonium is produced during the reactor's first 15 months of operation. All that's required to get at this material is to remove the spent fuel from the reactor (something that is done as a matter of course approximately every 12 months) and chemically strip out the plutonium from the fuel rods.

If Iran was to undertake this stripping process, called reprocessing, on a commercial scale, it would be expensive and difficult to hide. But Iran needn't go the commercial route. In l977 — when the U.S. was training hundreds of Iranian nuclear students at American universities — Oak Ridge National Laboratory detailed how a small, inexpensive reprocessing plant could be constructed covertly. This could be done by a nation of Iran's nuclear abilities within a matter of four to six months. With dimensions of only 130 feet by 30 feet by 40 feet, the plant could produce a bomb's worth of plutonium daily after operating for a week. Fashioning this material into a workable bomb would only require Iran to have mastered the crude design that Iraq perfected a decade ago.

Russia says it can guard against this by taking back the spent fuel that Busheir produces. Iran, however, has not yet agreed to this. More important, spent reactor fuel is risky to move long distances until it has cooled off for several years. Once it is removed from the reactor, though, Iran could quickly shift this material at any time to a nearby covert reprocessing plant. Doing so might set off alarms but by the time any outside nation tried to block the diversion, Iran could have its first bomb.

The story is much the same with Iran's enrichment program. Last week, Iran admitted that it was still importing the means to build more centrifuges. It insists it has a right to do so under the NPT and that building more enrichment capacity does not violate its October pledge to stop enriching uranium. It says it is not currently operating any of its centrifuges. Neither the Europeans nor the IAEA concur with this loose view of what the freeze agreement banned but they have yet to reach a formal understanding with Iran over what precisely is prohibited.

If Iran imported centrifuge equipment of the sort Libya did last fall — nearly complete machines of Pakistani design made in Malaysia — Tehran could be developing quite a nuclear-breakout capability. Just 1-2,000 of these machines would enable Iran to convert enough natural uranium into weapons-grade material to produce a bomb in one to two years. On the other hand, if Iran fed these centrifuges with the lightly enriched uranium Russia plans to send it for Busheir, Iran could produce enough material for a bomb in a matter of weeks.

Clearly, getting rid of Iran's centrifuges and its large reactor program is the best way to keep it from becoming a nuclear weapons-ready nation. It also suggests why keeping Tehran from taking delivery of lightly enriched uranium ought to be a high priority. Given that bombing Iran's known nuclear sites or overthrowing its regime right now are politically unlikely, though, U.S. and allied officials are at a loss as to how to slow Iran's nuclear efforts.

One approach that's worth trying is to enforce the rules. The IAEA will report on Iran's NPT compliance in the next three weeks. It then will meet in March to decide what to do. It would be useful, given Iran's revelations about importing centrifuge equipment, if the IAEA publicly told the truth: The agency cannot clearly find Iran yet to be in full compliance with its NPT obligations. It also would help if one or more of the IAEA's key members — say Germany, France, Great Britain, or, if necessary, the U.S. — formally asked the IAEA to determine how much time and access it would need to give Iran a clean bill of health. The IAEA did this in 2001 for North Korea but, so far, for some reason, no senior official from any member state has formally asked the agency to do this for Iran. This needs to be corrected immediately.

Armed with a study, either underway or completed, that would detail how much more time and access is needed, the IAEA's key members in March could reasonably insist that all agency members (including Russia) suspend nuclear cooperation with Iran until the IAEA can clearly find Iran to be in full compliance.

Rather than a call for sanctions for a violation, this would merely be a prudential request for due diligence. It would allow the IAEA to get a clearer idea of what Iran intends to suspend or dismantle under the October freeze and to determine whether or not Tehran is truly out of the bomb making business. It also would demonstrate a renewed seriousness about enforcing the rules — something Washington, Europe, and the others members of the IAEA urgently need to impress now upon Tehran.

-- Henry Sokolski directs the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center in Washington, D.C., and is editor with Patrick Clawson of Checking Iran's Nuclear Ambitions (U.S. Army War College, 2004).

http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/sokolski200401220852.asp

Witness Links Iran to Al Qaeda Pre 9/11, Court Told

January 22, 2004
Reuters
Jan Schwartz

HAMBURG, Germany -- Iran's secret service had contacts with Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network ahead of the September 11 attacks on the United States, a German court heard on Thursday.

Two members of Germany's Federal Criminal Police told a court in Hamburg a former Iranian spy had informed them of the contacts and had also said he tried to warn Washington about the attacks in mid-2001, but that the CIA had not believed him.

The police officers were speaking at the trial of a Moroccan accused of aiding the September 11 attacks.

The Iranian, identified only by his cover name Hamid Reza Zakeri emerged as a surprise witness, postponing the verdict which had been expected to clear the defendant. His credibility is under scrutiny by the presiding judges.

The witness himself was not in court on Thursday, but presiding judge Klaus Ruehle read out passages from an interview with him and questioned the two German investigators who had listened to his testimony.

The Iranian said he had been in a department of the Iranian intelligence service that was "responsible for carrying out terrorist attacks globally," one of the officers said.

"In 2001, a delegation with Osama bin Laden's son was in Iran," the officer said, quoting the witness.

The witness has been summoned to appear on January 29 at the trial of Moroccan Abdelghani Mzoudi, accused of aiding the September 11 attackers.

Mzoudi, 31, was expected to be cleared of several thousand counts of aiding and abetting murder and membership of a terror organization in a verdict originally due on Thursday, but postponed after the emergence of the Iranian witness.

The sudden new evidence may threaten Mzoudi's chances of acquittal.

MYSTERY WITNESS

The police officers told the court the witness had implicated Mzoudi and had said the Iranian secret service had worked with al Qaeda in 1996 in an attack in Saudi Arabia that killed several U.S. citizens.

He had also said it was an Iranian, Saif al Adel, the military head of al Qaeda, who planned the September 11 attacks.

Prosecutors say Mzoudi, an electrical engineering student based in Hamburg where three of the suicide pilots had lived, handled money for al Qaeda, helped cover for group members' absence and trained at an al Qaeda camp in Afghanistan himself.

However, he was released from custody after German investigators informed the court of secret testimony which the trial judge presumed to have come from key al Qaeda figure and U.S. captive Ramzi bin al-Shaibah.

That testimony suggested Mzoudi did not belong to the core group of plotters based in Hamburg.

Prosecutors, who are calling for a 15 year jail term, did not say how they had found their new witness only three days before the verdict was due.

German investigators, asked by judges to assess the credibility of the witness, said he had been keen to be paid for his cooperation, although he had not openly demanded money.

Ruehle said he and the other four presiding judges would continue to assess the credibility of the new witness on the trial's next scheduled sitting next Thursday.

He had told them he had left Iran in mid-2001 and warned the U.S. embassy in Azerbaijan of the impending attacks, informing officials that he had been employed by the CIA since 1992.

The new witness also referred to what he said was an al Qaeda message urging that Mzoudi "be eliminated" lest he implicate other al Qaeda members.

On the same day, fellow Moroccan Mounir El Motassadeq is also expected to hear whether an appeal against his conviction last February on similar charges has been successful. Motassadeq was sentenced to 15 years, but could win a retrial.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=4189392