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Iran and Libya Feel the Heat from Within

(Telegraph-UK) Con Coughlin - All of a sudden, the leaders of the Middle East's rogue states appear to have lost their appetite for upholding the protests that have already accounted for the governments of Tunisia and Egypt. In Iran, the opposition Green Movement made a dramatic reappearance on the streets of Tehran to demand the overthrow of President Ahmadinejad's regime. Once the crowds of demonstrators and chants of "Death to the Dictator" appeared on the doorstep of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, he rapidly backtracked. Within a few hours, the order had gone out to the broadcast media to halt all coverage of unrest elsewhere in the Middle East. Iranian opposition groups estimate that the majority of the 89 people executed in January were anti-government activists. They included Sahra Bahrami, a 46-year-old Dutch-Iranian woman, detained during the 2009 protests. She was hanged on bogus drug-smuggling charges, causing the Dutch government to freeze all ties with Iran. There are fresh signs of a split within the ranks of the Revolutionary Guards. In a letter to Mohammad Ali Jafari, the Guards' hardline commander, seen by the Daily Telegraph, senior officers seek reassurance that "we will not [have to] shoot nor beat our brothers seeking to express legitimate protest against the policies and conduct of their leaders." Any suggestion that the guardians of the Islamic Revolution might be unwilling to fight their own countrymen raises serious questions about the ability of both Khamenei and Ahmadinejad to survive a renewed bout of protests.
2011-02-18 00:00:00
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