Wednesday, June 24, 2009

No visable opposition leadership in Iran



Large contingents of Iranian security personnel brandished clubs, fired shots into the air and used tear gas to force back hundreds of people who, defying the regime's calls for a halt to protests, gathered outside parliament.

Armored vehicles moved in to arrest the demonstrators, "shoving them in like livestock," according to a source in Teheran.

Mir Hossein Mousavi, the defeated presidential candidate who says the vote was rigged, has not been seen since last Thursday and is widely believed to be in hiding.

But the protests were organized through his official Web site, and he has previously sent messages urging the demonstrators to continue their rallies.

From the rooftops and windows of Teheran apartment buildings, residents are keeping up their protest slogans, with reports of shouts of "Death to the Islamic Republic."

With Mousavi out of view, and all prominent reformist figures under arrest or also in hiding, the opposition had no visible leadership.
[Jerusalem Post]
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