Iran Police Invent Interpol Probe In Neda Death
(AP Photo)
Head of police Brig. Gen. Esmail Ahmadi-Moqaddam said, "Arash Hejazi is wanted by Interpol and Iran's Intelligence Ministry" in the murder of Neda, who's shooting fueled what were daily opposition rallies in the capital city of Tehran, according to a Wednesday report by Iran's Press TV, a state-run, English language network.
Speaking by phone to CBSNews.com Thursday morning from her office in Lyon, France, a spokesperson for Interpol flatly denied any involvement whatsoever in an investigation into Sultan's death.
"We've not received any request for information or for assistance on the death of that lady," spokesperson Rachel Billington said.
"We've received nothing from Iran," she emphasized.
Since video of Neda's murder swept across social networking Web sites, turning her overnight into a symbol of the Iranian opposition movement's defiance, the Islamic Republic's leaders have suggested repeatedly that her death was a staged act to stoke unrest.
Arash Hejazi, reportedly a doctor, was seen trying to care for Neda on the amateur video. He claimed to have witnessed her murder by a member of Iran's Basij voluntary militia.
In the interview with Press TV, the police chief claimed there was no connection between the young woman's death and the violent street demonstrations which paralyzed Tehran until dramatic crackdown by police and paramilitary militia members.
"The murder of Neda Agha-Sultan was a scenario and is not related to the Tehran unrest in any way," the network quoted Ahmadi-Moqaddam as saying.
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CBS reports, ""The murder of Neda Agha-Sultan was a scenario and is not related to the Tehran unrest in any way," the network quoted Ahmadi-Moqaddam as saying."
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Of course-- how could we have thought otherwise?
Roger Cohen, of the NY Times, makes the astute point about the Ahmadinejad regime that it should have been celebrating on the morning it declared victory by a 2-to-1 plurality. Instead, it had riot police at the ready, already clubbing and tear gassing protesters, exactly as though it had something to hide.
And it had. How can more than one million ballots have been counted in so little time, all to certify Ahmadinejad the winner?
The evidence of foul play in Neda's death points overwhelmingly at the Basijis who are little more than armed brownshirts defending Ahmadinejad, The Chosen One of the Guardian Council.
Given weapons (officially, they carry none) and uniforms, the Basij conducted violent operations agsinst demonstrators. This is the ultimate irony, since the Basij organization originally defended the country in the Iraq-Iran war, and now it attacks Iran and its political future.
The Iranian people have been clubbed into submission, but the revolution has just begun. Millions saw an election hijacked by the clerics, and have decided this will not be allowed to stand. Sooner or later, Ahmadinejad will stumble, and his replacement will be unable to control unrest.