NCRI

Iraqis protest Rafsanjani’s visit

NCRI – Dozens of Iraqi tribal leaders gathered on Tuesday to protest the visit of the former president of Iranian regime, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, to Iraq. Rafsanjani, who was president following the 1980-88 Iran- Iraq war and was parliamentary speaker during the conflict, is now chairman of the powerful Expediency Council. He was described by the protestors as the "killer of Iraqis," DPA reported.

A statement by the Council called on Iraqi MPs and officials to refuse to meet Rafsanjani and labeled those who will do as "traitors," the report added.

The Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP), led by Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, said that Rafsanjani's visit to Iraq was "unwelcome," calling on the government to address Iranian regime’s interference in Iraqi affairs, which he said had almost pushed the country into a "civil war."

Hundreds of Iraqis demonstrated in Ramadi, capital of the Sunni Arab province of Anbar, on Wednesday to condemn Rafsanjani's official visit to Iraq, AFP reported.

Waving Iraqi flags and banners that criticized Rafsanjani, tribal and religious leaders marched for an hour in the city, 100 kilometers (60 miles) west of Baghdad, the report added.

"The criminal Rafsanjani is a symbol of aggression and evil in Iraq," read one banner. "Rafsanjani's visit is inauspicious, a humiliation and a stain on the soil of Iraqi," said another.

Qassim Saddaa, a tribal leader taking part in Wednesday's protest, said that we will not forget what the he has done to the Iraqi prisoners of war.

Last September, the Argentine President, Mrs. Cristina Fernandez, in her speech at the UN General Assembly, called for the trial of six Iranian officials, including Rafsanjani, who are wanted for their role in Jewish centre bombing in Buenos Aires (Amia bombing) on July18, 1994. She called for their surrender to the Argentinean judiciary for trial.

Following 13 years of investigations, the General Assembly of the Interpol, in November 2007, issued Red Notices for a number of regime’s officials including former Intelligence Minister, Ali Fallahian and former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Mohsen Rezai , who both are accompanying Rafsanjani in his visit to Iraq.

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