BERLIN - A Berlin court Wednesday convicted an Iranian man of spying on Iranian opposition groups in Germany and sentenced him to 1 1/2 years probation.

The court found that Hamid Khorsand spied on Iranian opposition groups in Germany for the Iranian secret service from 1995 until his arrest in July, reporting to an Iranian agent in telephone calls that were intercepted by German authorities.

Iranian opposition members who were in Berlin for the trial criticized the sentence, saying it was too light.

In a statement later, the representative in Germany of the Council of Resistance of Iran, Masomeh Bolurchi, said the court proceedings "proved that Hamid Khorsand was a trained agent operating for a long time within the terrorism machine of the Iranian regime. Therefore he deserved a heavier sentence."

A light sentence would be interpreted by Tehran "as an encouragement to continue their terrorism without paying a high price," she said.
 

Student Leader Disappears, Agence France Presse, January 18

TEHRAN - A student leader has been missing since Sunday, after having been kidnapped and released on January 8, and threatened twice more since, a student association said Tuesday.

The Islamic Association of Students in Semnan, east of Tehran, is "very concerned about him and his state of health," it said of Abbas Pazuki in a statement sent to AFP.

The association maintains that Pazouki was kidnapped and threatened with death as a "corrupter" by unknown assailants January 8, for his progressive proposals during meetings at the university in Semnen.
 

Mullahs to Deploy 120,000 Police for "Elections", Agence France Presse, January 19

TEHRAN - About 120,000 police officers will be deployed to ensure security during Iran's February 18 parliamentary elections, Tehran police chief Mohsen Ansari said Wednesday, quoted by the official IRNA news agency.
 

Pro-Khatami Terrorist Implicates Regime in 1980 London Bombing, Reuters, January 17

TEHRAN - A man convicted of a 1980 London car bombing that killed two people has been barred from running in next month's parliamentary elections in Iran, a newspaper reported on Monday.

Kourosh Fouladi, a former prisoner in Britain and now an Iranian MP, told the Arya newspaper that he was banned by a elections supervisory board because of alleged "questionable loyalty" to the Islamic system in Iran.

"In Britain they tortured me...offered me lots of money to say Iran was behind the bombing, but I kept silent. Is this not loyalty?" he was quoted by Arya as saying.

Fouladi was released and deported from Britain in 1989 in an apparent move to secure the release of Roger Cooper, a Briton who had been held in Iran on spying charges since 1985. Cooper was freed in 1991.

"If I am not committed to the Islamic system why did you exchange me with Roger Cooper," Fouladi asked.
 

Khatami's FM: Even Golan Deal Cannot Change Iran's Stance, Agence France Presse, January 19

ANKARA - Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi said Wednesday that an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights under a possible deal with Syria would not thaw the ice between Iran and the Jewish state, the Anatolia news agency reported.

"If Israel withdraws from the Golan Heights, which it occupied in 1967, this will be a happy event," Kharazi told a press conference in Istanbul. "But such developments will not change our attitude towards Israel, which we do not recognize."

Kharazi said Iran would maintain its stance "even if Israel fulfils all Syrian demands," according to Anatolia.

Iran, a strategic ally of Syria, has recently been increasingly critical of Syria's peace overtures with Israel. Iran opposes the Middle East peace process and refuses to have any negotiations with Israel.

At a press conference in Ankara on Tuesday, Kharazi also criticized Turkey's close relationship with Israel.
 

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