VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - A woman the Vatican described as unstable
jumped over a barricade, lunged at Pope Benedict and knocked him to the
floor at the start of his Christmas Eve mass in St Peter's Basilica.
The 82-year-old pope was apparently not harmed and went on to finish
the two-hour service late on Thursday, but an elderly French cardinal
in the papal procession fell to the floor and was taken to hospital
with a broken leg.
Television pictures showed the woman, dressed in a red top, jumping
over the barricade and hurling herself at the pope, provoking screams
from members of the congregation.
The woman grabbed the pontiff's vestments as she was taken down by a
security guard, and both she and the pope then fell to the marble floor.
Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said the woman, who he
described as "unstable," was the same person who tried to jump a
barricade to get close to the pope at last year's Christmas Mass.
The Pope, dressed in gold and white vestments, was helped up by
security men and after a few seconds continued the procession up the
center aisle to celebrate the Mass. He seemed calm and unfazed during
the rest of the ceremony.
But French Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, 87, who has been in frail
health recently, fell to the floor and was taken away in a wheelchair.
He suffered a broken femur, Lombardi said.
The woman was detained for questioning by Vatican security police and was not immediately identified.
FIRST SERIOUS SECURITY BREACH FOR BENEDICT
There have been relatively few security breaches in Benedict's
pontificate, which began in 2005. In 2007 a German man jumped over a
barricade in St Peter's Square as the pope's jeep was passing during a
general audience and tried to board the vehicle.
The most serious attack on a pope in the Vatican came in 1981 when
Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Agca, shot and nearly killed Pope John Paul
II in St Peter's Square.
Thursday's incident, which left Vatican security guards visibly
shaken and bishops stunned, happened at the start of a Mass at which
Benedict led the world's some 1.1 billion Roman Catholics into
Christmas for the fifth time since his 2005 election.
It again raised the question of how vulnerable the pope can be if he wants to maintain contact with the public.
While visitors to St Peter's Basilica must pass through metal
detectors and spot checks, security once they get inside is relatively
light. Vatican security is shared by a police force and Swiss Guards.
For the first time in recent memory, the Christmas Eve mass started
two hours before midnight in order to give the pope more time to rest
before Friday's main Christmas event at noon.
In his homily to more than 10,000 people inside Christendom's
largest church, the pope urged the faithful to rediscover the
simplicity of the nativity message.
He recounted the traditional Christmas story of Christ's birth in a
manger in Bethlehem and urged Catholics to put aside the complexities
and burdens of daily life and rediscover the path to God.
"We live our lives by philosophies, amid worldly affairs and life and rediscover the path to God.
"We live our lives by philosophies, amid worldly affairs and
occupations that totally absorb us and are a great distance from the
manger," he said.
"In all kinds of ways, God has to prod us and reach out to us again
and again, so that we can manage to escape from the muddle of our
thoughts and activities and discover the way that leads to him," he
said.
Benedict on Friday delivers his twice-yearly "Urbi et Orbi" message
to the city and the world from the central balcony of St Peter's
Basilica to crowds in the square below.
Grand AyatollahHossein-Ali Montazeri (Persian
: حسینعلی منتظری), styled His Honourable Eminence (1922 – 19 December 2009), was a prominent IranianIslamic theologian
, Islamic democracy
activist, writer and human rights
activist. He was one of the leaders of the Iranian Revolution
in 1979. He was best known as the one-time designated successor to the revolution's Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Khomeini
,
with whom he had a falling out in 1989 over government policies that
Montazeri claimed infringed on freedom and denied people's rights.
Montazeri lived later years of his life in the holy city of Qom
, and remained politically influential in Iran
, especially upon reformist politics. He was a senior Islamic scholar and a Grand Marja (religious authority) of Shi'ite Islam
.
For almost three decades, Hossein Ali Montazeri had been one of the
main critics of the Islamic Republic's domestic and foreign policy. He
had also been an active advocate of civil rights
and women's rights in Iran
. Montazeri was a prolific writer and authored a number of books and articles.
Immediately after his death, Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
released a statement to express his condolences for the "knowledgeable Islamic jurisprudent".
Ramin Ghahremani
on 26th Tir (July 17th) after the Friday’s prayers died after he
got hit on a head with a baton. His family is under lots of pressure to
remain silence.
25 year old Fahime Salahshoor,
high school graduate – Died on Sunday khordad 24th (June 14th)
after getting hit on her head with baton on Valieasr Square. She died
after being transferred to the hospital due to an internal bleeding and
severe injuries.
A 17 year old, Maisam Ebadi died
of a gun fire on Khordad 23rd (July 13th). Maisam Ebadi’s family
reported their son’s death on July 13th at Falakeie Sadeghie.
Maisam Ebadi, the son of Asgar was shot at Falakaie Sadeghie at the
stomach while he was returning back from work. He died due to severe
bleeding on the street. The body of this young boy after getting
through the legal process was buried at Beheshte Zahra.
The list of names of some detainees that has been released for public information through human rights organizations:
Kaveh Sheikhi,
23 yrs, AS(Associate of Science) in Civil Engineering, detained on
Thursday July 8th, in Amirabad, transfered to Kahrizak, section 240 of
Evin; etained for a second time on Friday July 16th, while attacking
their house, detained him again.
Sajad Abdi,
21 years old, student of Computer Science (CS), detained on Friday July
16th in Valiasr and transferred to the police station section 148 and
then onto Evin prison.
Hamid Tak,
26 years old, student of graduate school of Civil Engineering, detained
on Thursday July 8th in Sina St., his whereabouts unknown.
Nazi Kalantari, 27 yrs old, BA in Law, detained on Thursday July 8th, transferred to Evin.
Ebrahim Ghanbari, 54 years old, retired, detained on Thursday July 8th, transferred to Evin.
Soheil Ghahremani,
24 yrs old, detained on Friday July 16th, transferred while contacting
his family to Kahrizak but his whereabouts are unknown at the present
time.
Reza Goudarzi, 28 yrs old, detained on Tuesday July 20th in 7Tir, transferred to the intelligence section 148 of revolution.
Seyed Mehdi Mir Karimi, 30 yrs old, employee of Municipality, detained on Saturday June 23rd in Azadi and transferred to Evin.
Shahab Nazari,
19 yrs old, AS degree, detained on Saturday June 23rd in front of
university of Sharif Sanati by the Security Guard Forces, wounded by
their clubs and then transferred to Evin. His family still are not
aware of his whereabouts and condition of health.
Rahim Hashempour,
28 years old, BS in Software Engineering, detained on Tuesay July 20th
in Karim Khan St. without a reason, transferred to Police station
section 148.
Masoud Mardani, 27 yrs old, diploma in architecture, detained on Friday July 17th in Valiasr St., transferred to Evin.
Hadi yazdani, 21 yrs old, Student of Mechanical Eng., dtained on Friday July 17th in Enghelab Sq., his whereabouts are unknown
Amir Javadi, 27 yrs old, AS in Civil Eng., detained on Sunday June 13th in Fatemi St., transferred to Evin
Pouyan Mohamadi, 20 yrs old, diploma, detained on Thursday July 8th in Karegar St., transferred to Evin.
Zahra Bagheri, 24 yrs old, detained on July 8th in Enghelab Sq., transferred to Evin.
Payam Hosseini,
27 yrs old, Diploma and business owner, detained on Wednesday June 25th
in Ferdoci St. and transferred to Kahrizak then to Evin.
Ali Nozari, 31 yrs old, BA in Accounting and employed, detained on Satuday June 22nd in Azadi Sq., transferred to Evin
Ahmad Ali Saraji, 18 yrs old, detained Friday July 15th in Enghelab Sq., transferred to Evin
Amin Saber, 22 yrs old, BA in Agriculture, detained on Thursday July 8th in Amirabad St., his whereabouts are unknown
Amir Hassani,
25 yrs old, AS in Civil Eng., detained on thursday july 8th in Enghelab
Sq. and transferred to police station section 148 then to Evin.
Bijan Jalili, 22 yrs old, detained on July 20th in 7Tir and his whereabouts are unknown
Mohsen Janahngir, 29 yrs old, detained on Thursday July 8th and transferred to Evin
Babak Dastjerdi,
28 yrs old, business owner, detained on saturday June 21st, while he
was chanting "Allah O Akbar" on the roof, the Civil Forces attacked his
house and booked him.
Amir Hojati,
a senior student of architecture at Beheshti university was arrested on
Saturday Khordad 23rd (June 13th) in front of the Kooye Tehran
University and still is kept in jail.
>>Killed by Government Forces イランイスラムで暗殺された名望
Abolfazl Abdollahi (21 years Diploma in EE June 30 2009)
Neda Aghasoltan (Student Tehran 20 June 2009)
Vahed Akbari (34 years married with a 3-year-old girl Tehran June 30 2009)
Kaveh Alipour(Tehran15 June 2009)
Naser Amirnejad (Aerospace PhD student Tehran U.14 June 2009)
Sohrab Arabi(Tehran June 2009)
Mohammad Asgari (IT department Interior Ministry TehranJune 2009)
Kianoosh Assa (chemistry student at Elm va Sanaat University Tehran June 2009)
Fatemeh Barati (Tehran June 20)
Yagoub Barvayeh( masters degree student in Theater at Tehran University June 2009)
Sarvar Boroumand (Tehran June 25 2009)
Mobina Ehterami (Tehran June 20)
Mostafa Ghanian (Graduate student Tehran U.14 June 2009)
Mohsen Hadadi (24-year-old computer programmer Tehran June 30 2009)
Iman Hashemi (Tehran June 30 2009)
Fatemeh Rajabpour (38 years old Tehran15 June 2009
Farzad Hashti( Tehran June 2009)
Mohammad Hossein Barzegar (Tehran June 27 2009)
Mohsen Imani ( Tehran June 20)
Seyed-Farzad Jashni (Abdanan from Ilam province lost in Tehran June 30 2009)
Bahman Jenabi (Shop worker Tehran20 June 2009)
Mehdi Karami( killed in Jonat Abad Street Tehran15 June 2009)
Shalar Khazri (Tehran June 2009)
Masoud Khosravi (Tehran June 25 2009)
Parisa Koli (25-year-old general Graduated literature Tehran June 31 2009)
Hamid Maddah Shorcheh (Mashhad June 2009)
Iman Namazi (student at Tehran University June 25 2009)
Nader Nasseri (Tehran June 30 2009)
Mohammad Nikzadi ( 22 year old graduate in Civil Tehran June 26 2009)
Mehrdad Heydari(Journalist Mashhad 12 July)
Davood Sadri (Karaj June 2009)
Fahimeh Salahshoor ( 25 years Tehran June 24 2009)
Ali Shahedi ( 24 years Tehranpars after arrest June 31 2009)
Kasra Sharafi (Tehran June 20)
Kambiz Shojaii (Tehran June 20)
Ashkan Sohrabi Student (Tehran20 June 2009)
Seyed-Reza Tabatabaii ( 30-year accounting degree Tehran June 30 2009)
Vahid-Reza Tabatabaii (29 years BA in English Tehran July 3 2009)
Salar Tahmasbi (27 years student of Business Administration Rasht June 30 2009)
Hossein Tahmassebi (25 was beaten to death in Kermanshah 20 June 2009)
Mohammad Kamrani (student Tehran 16 July)
Arman Estakhripour (18 years old student Shiraz 14 July)
The Media Line Benjamin Joffe-Walt Sunday, June 28th, 2009 "I'm not running for office right now," he continued. "My job is to help my compatriots achieve liberty and get rid of this system... if at that time my fellow compatriots want me to play a prominent role in the political scene, they will have to decide that then."
The heir to the throne of the deposed Shah of Iran says he is willing to die for his country and is ready to return and "play a prominent role" in Iranian affairs.
"My moment for the return to my country will come, I assure you," Reza Pahlavi, the eldest son of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, told The Media Line in an exclusive interview from his home in Washington, DC. "I want to be in my homeland. I have been forced into a scenario of exile," he said. "I believe that any Iranian like myself should have the right to live in his own country and contribute the best that one can as an Iranian to the betterment of our country."
Pahlavi's father died in exile after being ousted during the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
To many, the likelihood that the Shah's son could become the next leader of Iran is slim, but in the turmoil following the recent elections, the possible resurrection of the Iranian monarchy is once again being discussed.
"I'm not running for office right now," he continued. "My job is to help my compatriots achieve liberty and get rid of this system... if at that time my fellow compatriots want me to play a prominent role in the political scene, they will have to decide that then."
Over the weekend it was revealed that Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards are hunting for the protesters captured in widely distributed photographs of the demonstrations, and Amnesty International accused the Basij, a volunteer paramilitary group, of going into hospitals to arrest activists injured in street protests. The news came days after Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei said leaders of the demonstrations may face execution.
Given the recent unrest, the 48-year-old former crown prince said the timing of his return to Iran was a question of tactics, not safety. "I've always said that I'm willing to die for my country," he said. "But the circumstances have to be ripe."
Pahlavi's father, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, was installed as Shah in a 1953 CIA-led coup, replacing the country's democratically elected government. U.S. President Barack Obama referred to the episode in his speech to the Muslim world earlier this month. "In the middle of the Cold War, the United States played a role in the overthrow of a democratically-elected Iranian government," Obama said, the first U.S. president to admit the U.S. role in the coup, in a clear overture to Iran.
The Shah ruled for over 25 years and was ousted by Ayatollah Khomenei in the 1979 Islamic revolution, after a year of massive street demonstrations. The crown prince was a teenager taking flight training lessons in Texas at the time.
Many Iranians say they enjoyed more social freedoms under the Shah's rule, such as the freedom for men and women to associate publicly, but poverty, illiteracy, torture and violent suppression of civilian dissent were all widespread.
Supporters of Pahlavi, most of them Iranians in exile, advocate for a democratic parliamentary system with a monarch whose role is to unite Iranian ethnic groups.
"Iran can have a parliamentary democracy, a secular system where there is a clear separation between religion and government," Pahlavi told The Media Line. "This is the moment for Iran. What you see now is 30 years' worth of pent-up frustration that is literally exploding," he said. "Such a regime, no matter how repressive, cannot fight everybody all over the place at the same time, which is why it is important that this broad based resistance keeps going."
Pahlavi said the relative lull in protests over the past few days was not a sign that Iranians had accepted the status quo. "There is a degree of repression that may force a temporary retreat simply to preserve and protect people's lives," he said. "The substance of the demands is not going to die down."
The former crown prince said there were numerous signs that the regime was slowly imploding from within.
"I have spoken to a number of highly-placed, responsible commanders of the security forces and the Revolutionary Guards who, being totally disillusioned, have now said that it's no longer tenable for us to continue serving such a regime that is so blatantly killing our own compatriots," he said.
"Some of these people, they were my age at the time of the revolution," he continued. "They sacrificed their lives in defense of our homeland and for the sake of their citizens. Could they today turn their guns against the children of those they were protecting?"
"I don't believe so, and that's why I'm telling you I have absolute faith that we will succeed, but the question is, how soon and at what cost?" he added.
Pahlavi, whose father was a close U.S. ally, has been increasingly critical of the Obama administration's approach to Iran. "While I applaud the President's strong stance in support for human rights in Iran," he said, "there is also a dilemma in his policy of engagement... I believe it ought to be suspended until there is a stable government that is indeed supported by the Iranian people. If you continue to engage now, not only will it be a slap in the face of Iranians who are in a quest for democracy, but it will also not work."
The former crown prince says Western governments should consider a dual approach. "There has been a monopoly by the regime and its representatives on communication with the outside world," he said. "I've always suggested that there should be a dual track approach, in the spirit of those who want to engage the regime to also engage with the democratic opposition."
"Why do you think most of the slogans written on the streets of Iran are in English?" he asked. "Do they want to talk to each other in the foreign language? That should be a significant signal to the outside world that this is not just an internal debate - we want the outside to show solidarity with us... I always found it a little bit awkward that such a relationship was not created. ーーーーーーーーーーー
Paris Press Conference: Iran Realities and Perspectives
Thursday, July 2nd, 2009 Opening Remarks
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Thank you for coming. Thank you for your time, and attention to the cry for freedom and democracy in Iran. The past three weeks, my brave compatriots have paid in blood the price of ripping the façade of acceptability of the regime in Iran, and its legitimacy to speak for the people of Iran abroad. The ensuing murderous oppression can silence the streets, and media blackout can reduce world attention. In the West you may see headlines declaring the end of the protests. Some will say a family quarrel inside the Islamic regime is over and Mr. Ahmadinejad will govern Iran for another four year term. But they misread the situation. Although more demonstrations may pop up, and the 10th anniversary of the student uprising on July 9th is a date to watch, phase one, that is election-related mass demonstrations is over. But let me clarify what phase two, which is the phase of national resistance, will look like:
Viewed as a usurper in his second term, Mr. Ahmadinejad's increasing insecurity at home will compel him to invent foreign enemies, further isolating Iran. Compounded with low oil prices, the need for slower liquidity growth to limit spiraling inflation, with massive capital flight and a drained stock market, and a further hemorrhage of skilled managers, just to name a few problems, he will face insurmountable obstacles in running the day to day affairs of government. He will need a minimal cooperation of the people for the ship of state to sail on. Instead he will find burgeoning resistance everywhere, until his government grinds to a halt.
Disappointed and alarmed, influential clerics, important parliamentary factions and other institutions will question his ability to cope and undermine his authority from within the Islamist state. That final paralysis will mark the end of the second phase.
It is hard to predict the third phase. Will a part of the Revolutionary Guards move in to fill the vacuum created by a collapse of authority and a functioning government? If so, the regime will be reduced to an unsustainably narrow base of support, expediting its fall. Will strikes spread and re-energized mass demonstrations sweep the country, compelling the authorities to yield to public pressure toward a new democratic order? No exact scenario can be written at this stage, but the end is clear.
Fast rewind to today, let's acknowledge that the path is perilous. The regime has just appointed a three-man commission to punish those involved in recent demonstrations. The commissioners are men responsible for tortures and summary executions of thousands of my countrymen some twenty years ago. After all of these years, the sounds of rape, torture and dying in Iran's prisons haunt my countrymen. And now those men are back.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Today I am asking you to help put the spotlight of international attention on their dastardly deeds in the weeks ahead. This may be the only way of impeding the cruelty of this regime against those whose only crime was peaceful assembly and expression, including women campaigning against being treated as something halfway between man and animal in their courts. For I fear that out of the daylight of world media, the nightmare of two decades ago will return.
Your second contribution is keeping your political leaders informed about the range and brutality of the oppression in Iran. Your governments have insisted that they would not interfere in Iran's internal affairs. I applaud that. Any such attempt will give the tyrants the excuse they need to paper over their own differences and target anyone struggling for freedom as a foreign agent. But that is not all they do. They are painting every statement in defense of human rights as foreign interference. They benefit from the confusion between the two. It is vital that the free world not fall for such cruel cynicism in the name of realpolitik. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights knows no national boundaries. Its defense is not only a moral issue, but a mutual obligation of all governments who are its signatories.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
A movement was born on the 22nd of Khordad in my calendar and 12th of June in yours. It is not Islamic or anti-Islamic, it is not for capitalism or socialism, nor any other ideology or specific form of government. It cares little about historical squabbles before its birth. It is about the sanctity, even more, the sovereignty of the ballot box. By certifying fraudulent election results, the Supreme leader and the Guardian Council have spent their authority against the movement. They stand in the people's way, leaving no bridge behind. The movement may not succeed immediately. It will have its ebbs and flows. It may not control the street for now. But it will not die.
The Spirit of the movement will permeate every home and workplace, public and private, grinding the government to a halt until there is no exit for tyrants, but yielding to the victory of human rights and democracy in Iran.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
I stand before you today to ask for your solidarity with my fellow Iranians on their march towards liberty and justice.
