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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: cleric

cleric stories: 18 news summaries

Italy Convicts CIA Agents of Kidnapping

2003 case is first to challenge practice of extraordinary rendition

Nov 4, 09 11:12 AM CST
(AP) - An Italian judge today convicted 23 Americans of the 2003 kidnapping of an Egyptian cleric on a Milan street, in a landmark case involving the CIA's extraordinary rendition program in the war on terrorism. Judge Oscar Magi acquitted three other Americans, citing diplomatic immunity. Former Milan CIA station chief Robert... More »

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CIA • rendition • Italy • kidnapping • cleric • terror suspects • extraordinary rendition

(Newser) - As his adversaries faced a mass court hearing condemned as a show trial, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was formally endorsed today for a second term as president of Iran. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei conducted the ceremony, which Mir Hossein Mousavi and other opposition figures boycotted. The endorsement came after state television screened courtroom... More »

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Iran • Mahmoud Ahmadinejad • trial • cleric • Ayatollah Ali Khamenei • confession • Iranian election • Mir Hossein Mousavi • Iranian protests

(Newser) - Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the former Iranian president and most powerful supporter of Mir Hossein Mousavi, addressed thousands of young reformists in green today in a highly anticipated sermon that may trigger further protests. The visibly upset cleric demanded that all political prisoners be freed and lamented that "we had... More »

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Iran • Tehran • Mahmoud Ahmadinejad • cleric • Hashemi Rafsanjani • Shiite cleric • sermon • Iranian election • Mir Hossein Mousavi

ANALYSIS





 Mousavi's Options Dwindle 
 as Time Ticks Away 

Beaten on the streets, reformer takes uphill battle to the elite

Jul 3, 09 9:51 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Iranian protest movement is running out of time and options as the regime continues its brutal crackdown, Time reports. Government forces have full control of the streets of Tehran, hundreds of political opponents are in jail, and Western journalists have been packed off. Mir Hossein Mousavi now has no... More »

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Iran • cleric • Hashemi Rafsanjani • Iranian politics • Iranian election • Mir Hossein Mousavi • Iranian protests • Basij militia

(Newser) - Iran’s Guardian Council today called the election the “healthiest since the revolution,” and one of its members suggested executing the “rioters” protesting it, Reuters reports. “I want the judiciary to punish leading rioters firmly and without showing any mercy,” Ahmad Khatami told worshipers at... More »

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cleric

 In the Shadows, 
 Ayatollah's Son 
 Calls the Shots 

Mojtaba Khamenei has power throughout the security apparatus

Jun 25, 09 9:28 AM CDT
(Newser) - Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rarely appears in public and cultivates a shadowy reputation—but even further out of the public eye, his son has become one of the post powerful men in Iran. Ultraconservative cleric Mojtaba Khamenei, believed to be around 50 years old, has connections throughout the Revolutionary Guards and... More »

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Iran • Revolutionary Guards • Basiji • cleric • Ayatollah Ali Khamenei • Iranian election • Iranian protests • Basij militia • Mojtaba Khamenei

(Newser) - Iran is calm but tense today as police freed four family members of a former president and important Iranian cleric, the Los Angeles Times reports. But the oldest daughter of Hashemi Rafsanjani, a key backer of challenger Mir-Hossein Mousavi, was not released by authorities in Tehran. Five members of Rafsanjani's... More »

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Iran • Mahmoud Ahmadinejad • protests • cleric • Ali Khamenei • Hashemi Rafsanjani • Iranian election • Mir Hossein Mousavi

Iran election dispute

 Clerics Invite Opposition to Talk 


Jun 18, 09 8:04 AM CDT
(Newser) - Iran’s Guardian Council has invited all three opposition candidates to a meeting to air their grievances Saturday, the New York Times reports. But the opposition is likely to view that olive branch warily; it has already turned down the council’s offer for a partial recount. Protesters say... More »

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Iran • Mahmoud Ahmadinejad • cleric • Ayatollah Ali Khamenei • Guardian Council • Iranian election • Mir Hossein Mousavi

ANALYSIS

As Iran Unrest Goes On, Watch the Clerics

Mullahs far from Tehran may step in to end election dispute

Jun 18, 09 7:08 AM CDT
(Newser) - As protesters continue to express anger and defy arrest, the endgame of Iran's disputed election may take place not in Tehran, but in the holy city of Qom—where the country's powerful clerics have so far kept silent. Except for a few prominent reformists, Iran's mullahs have refused to take... More »

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Iran • Mahmoud Ahmadinejad • cleric • Hashemi Rafsanjani • mullahs • Ayatollah Ali Khamenei • Mir Hossein Mousavi • Qom

ANALYSIS

Ayatollah Authority 
 Undercut by Flip-Flop 

Protests are weakening Khamenei's grip on Iranian regime

Jun 16, 09 6:28 AM CDT
(Newser) - The about-face done by Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei—first blessing the victory of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Friday's election then opening an inquiry into vote fraud yesterday—was a rare misstep for the shadowy, usually cautious ayatollah, the New York Times reports, and may have done substantial damage to his reputation,... More »

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Iran • Mahmoud Ahmadinejad • Revolutionary Guards • cleric • Ali Khamenei • Ayatollah Ali Khamenei • Iranian politics • Iranian election • Mir Hossein Mousavi

(Newser) - One of Pakistan’s most prominent anti-Taliban clerics was killed today in a suicide bomb attack, the Times of London reports. Sarfraz Ahmed Naeemi, who supported the Pakistan army’s campaign in the Swat Valley, died on the way to the hospital after an explosion at his Islamic college in... More »

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Taliban • Pakistan • suicide bombing • Muslim • mosque • cleric • Lahore • Pakistan army • Swat Valley • madrasa • Sarfraz Ahmed Naeemi

 2 Afghans Face Death
 Over Koran Translation 

Clerics say book aims to replace holy text

Feb 6, 09 11:23 AM CST
(AP) - A pocket-size translation of the Koran has landed six men in prison in Afghanistan and left two of them begging judges to spare their lives. They're accused of modifying the Koran, and their fate could be decided Sunday in court. The trial illustrates what critics call the undue influence of... More »

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Afghanistan • death penalty • Islam • trial • Islamic Sharia law • Muslim • Koran • translation • cleric • Bill Maher Grid

Top Saudi Cleric Backs Marriage of 10-Year-Old Girls

They're not too young, declares grand mufti

Jan 18, 09 9:27 AM CST
(Newser) - The top Muslim cleric in Saudi Arabia has issued a statement supporting marriage for girls as young as 10, reports CNN. "Those who think she's too young are wrong and they are being unfair to her," he declared. The statement follows the refusal last month by a Saudi... More »

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Saudi Arabia • marriage • Muslim • Grand Mufti • cleric • sexual assault • child brides

analysis

 Cleric Journeys From 
 al-Qaeda to US Ally 

Sunni leader gives up on 'bankrupt' insurgency

Jan 13, 09 11:10 AM CST
(Newser) - A young man who holds sway over one Iraqi town embodies the country’s transition from dictatorship through insurgency to today’s “murkier contest,” the Washington Post reports. Sunni cleric Nadhim Khalil often slammed Saddam Hussein’s government when it was in power. But when it fell, he... More »

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Iraq • Saddam Hussein • Sunni • cleric • al-Qaeda in Iraq • insurgency • Sons of Iraq

Sadr Cultivates Respect, Image to Reflect Power

Militia chief moves toward mainstream, hones clerical chops

May 27, 08 1:49 PM CDT
(Newser) - Muqtada al-Sadr aims to shed his reputation as a dim-witted thug and become a respected Iraqi cleric like his father, the Washington Post reports, and has even spent the past year studying in Iran. Sadr, then nicknamed "Muqtada Atari" for his love of video games, was 25 when the... More »

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Iraq • Sadr City • Mahdi Army • cleric • Sadrists • Shiite cleric • Muqtada al-Sadr

 Iranian Lawman Blasts Barbie 

Top prosecutor calls for ban on Western toy imports

Apr 29, 08 7:42 AM CDT
(Newser) - Barbie, Batman, and Harry Potter have no place in the Islamic Republic of Iran, says the nation's top prosecutor. He warned of the "social danger" that toys and other Western cultural imports pose to his country and has called for a ban, the BBC reports. Barbie is a big... More »

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Iran • Islamic dress code • toys • Barbie • cleric

Updated

Al-Sadr Orders His Militia Off Streets of Basra

He offers weakened Maliki a truce deal as violence continues

Mar 30, 08 5:15 PM CDT
(Newser) - Iraqi Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr ordered his fighters to leave the streets of Basra and other cities, reports the BBC, in an effort to end clashes with security forces. “Anyone carrying a weapon and targeting government institutions will not be one of us,” Sadr said, but minutes after... More »

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Iraq • Baghdad • Basra • Shia • Iraq government • cleric • ceasefire • Muqtada al-Sadr • Iraq war • Shia militia

Pakistani Cleric Calls Ceasefire

Dozens killed in clashes with government troops, helicopters

Oct 29, 07 12:07 PM CDT
(Newser) - Supporters of an extremist cleric who had declared a jihad against Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire today after fierce fighting this weekend claimed between 50 and 60 of their number, Al Jazeera reports. Pakistan had sent 2,500 paramilitary troops to Swat to head off Maulana Fazlullah, who wants to... More »

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Taliban • Pakistan • jihad • Islamic Sharia law • Maulana Fazlullah • Swat • militant • cleric

18 Stories


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