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Iran leader Mohammad Khatami falls ill amid crisis
BBC ^
| 1/31/04
Posted on 01/31/2004 7:56:13 PM PST by areafiftyone
Iran's president Mohammad Khatami has reportedly fallen ill with back pain, forcing him to cancel his engagements.
It comes amid a worsening political crisis over the barring of thousands of candidates from February's elections.
Mr Khatami is said to have fallen ill after a ceremony at the shrine of Ayatollah Khomeini - to mark the 25th anniversary of the Islamic revolution.
He has been forced to postpone a key meeting of his reformist cabinet to discuss the ban on 2,500 candidates.
On Friday, the hardline Guardian Council reinstated a third of the 3,600 candidates it disqualified from the election.
The official number of candidates now stands at around 5,450.
But it falls far short of the full reinstatement demanded by protesting reformist MPs, 80 of whom are themselves on the blacklist.
Interior Minister Abdolvahed Moussavi Lari warned it would be "out of the question" to hold elections. "The possibility of organising a free and competitive election does not exist", he said.
Anniversary
The political row continued as Iran prepared to commemorating the 1979 revolution that toppled the pro-US leadership and brought to power anti-American hardline clerics.
According to reports, the president fell ill shortly after he attended a ceremony, along with his entire cabinet, at the shrine of Ayatollah Khomeini, father of the revolution.
The BBC's Miranda Eeles said sources close to the 60-year-old president blamed stress and pressure on his nerves for the illness.
The disqualifications by the Guardian Council - an unelected 12-member body that vets candidates for office and all laws - have drawn daily protests from the reformists.
MPs began circulating and signing letters of resignation on Saturday, the AFP news agency reported.
TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News
KEYWORDS: iran; khatami
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To: areafiftyone
Too bad it isn't something more serious.
To: COEXERJ145
I was thinking the same thing.
3
posted on
01/31/2004 7:59:20 PM PST
by
areafiftyone
(Democrats = the hamster is dead but the wheel is still spinning)
To: areafiftyone
"the president fell ill shortly after he attended a ceremony, along with his entire cabinet, at the shrine of Ayatollah Khomeini, father of the revolution. "
That's enough to make anyone sick.
4
posted on
01/31/2004 7:59:46 PM PST
by
nuconvert
("Why do you have to be a nonconformist like everybody else?")
To: areafiftyone
"Bring out yer dead!" (Clang!) "Bring out yer dead!"
5
posted on
01/31/2004 8:01:33 PM PST
by
stboz
To: COEXERJ145
It very well could be more serious.
Iran is near a tipping point.
Iran as it exists now cannot survive much longer.
The lure of democracy pulls strongly on the people.
6
posted on
01/31/2004 8:02:44 PM PST
by
The Dude Abides
(Hey Saddam., you're king of just two things.......and Jack just left town.)
To: areafiftyone
"The possibility of organising a free and competitive election does not exist".???? No sh*t?
To: nuconvert; DoctorZIn
ping
8
posted on
01/31/2004 8:05:03 PM PST
by
Pan_Yans Wife
(Say not, 'I have found the truth,' but rather, 'I have found a truth.'--- Kahlil Gibran)
To: stboz
He needs to light up a ceegar and have a shot or two of whiskey. That's what Mark Twain used against the lumbago.
9
posted on
01/31/2004 8:05:36 PM PST
by
stboz
To: Pan_Yans Wife
been there, done that
# 4
10
posted on
01/31/2004 8:07:25 PM PST
by
nuconvert
("Why do you have to be a nonconformist like everybody else?")
To: stboz
He also said, "My habits preserve me, but they'd probably assassinate you."....We can only hope.
11
posted on
01/31/2004 8:08:37 PM PST
by
stboz
To: nuconvert
PING me, then I will know. I'm good, but not all-knowing, yet!
(YES, I NEED GLASSES!)
12
posted on
01/31/2004 8:08:48 PM PST
by
Pan_Yans Wife
(Say not, 'I have found the truth,' but rather, 'I have found a truth.'--- Kahlil Gibran)
To: Pan_Yans Wife
OHHHH???
I thought once you reached your 1 year anniverary, you automatically became all knowing.
Now I have nothing to look forward to.
13
posted on
01/31/2004 8:12:48 PM PST
by
nuconvert
("Why do you have to be a nonconformist like everybody else?")
To: nuconvert
Hey, I'm just trying to keep up with YOU.
Day late and a dollar short.
14
posted on
01/31/2004 8:13:42 PM PST
by
Pan_Yans Wife
(Say not, 'I have found the truth,' but rather, 'I have found a truth.'--- Kahlil Gibran)
To: COEXERJ145; areafiftyone
Too bad it isn't something more serious.It may be that very serious "soviet disease" that happens during popular uprising/coup...like in Hungary '56, East Germany '89, the USSR '91.
15
posted on
01/31/2004 8:28:19 PM PST
by
skinkinthegrass
(Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't out to get you :)
To: areafiftyone
Wishing him an early yet painful death.
16
posted on
01/31/2004 9:41:40 PM PST
by
Mad_Tom_Rackham
(Any day you wake up is a good day.)
To: COEXERJ145
Remember when Gorbachev got "sick"?
17
posted on
01/31/2004 10:06:30 PM PST
by
dr_who_2
To: areafiftyone
>>reportedly fallen ill with back pain, forcing him to cancel his engagements
There is probably some truth to this. Someone over there
not wanting to lie. But this could also mean he was shot in
the back.
To: areafiftyone
This is not the first time he has suddenly gotten sick in a crisis.
Glad we have Bush on our side.
19
posted on
01/31/2004 10:34:22 PM PST
by
DoctorZIn
(Until they are Free, "We shall all be Iranians!")
To: areafiftyone
Clearly, it is the will of Allah...
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