Khatami plans run for president
Former Iranian President Mohammed Khatami declared Sunday he would run again for president, setting the stage for a major political showdown in coming months between the popular reformist leader – who made dialogue with the West a centerpiece of his eight years in office – and the country’s ruling hard-liners.
Khatami’s candidacy poses a serious challenge to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose mixture of anti-Western rhetoric and fiery nationalism sharply contrasts with Khatami’s tempered tones and appeals for global dialogue.
“I seriously announce my candidacy in the next (presidential) election,” Khatami announced Sunday after a meeting with his supporters.
He said he decided to seek the presidency in the June 12 vote because it was impossible for someone like himself who was interested in the fate of Iran to remain silent. The 65-year-old liberal cleric said he is “attached to the country’s greatness and the people’s right to have control over their own fate.”
DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan
Video appears to show execution
A graphic video delivered to the Associated Press on Sunday appeared to show the execution of a Polish engineer by Pakistani militants who had held him captive for more than four months.
An American U.N. worker was abducted last week in the border town of Quetta in southwestern Pakistan. Police said Sunday they were investigating a purported separatist group’s claim of responsibility.
The seven-minute execution video appears to show the Polish hostage, Piotr Stanczak, sitting on the floor flanked by two masked men. Off camera, a militant briefly engages him in conversation before three others behead him.
The video was given to an Associated Press reporter in northwest Pakistan by an intermediary who said he obtained it from the Taliban.
CARACAS, Venezuela
Synagogue attack suspects arrested
Authorities arrested 11 people, including seven police officers, suspected of carrying out an attack on a Caracas synagogue that raised concerns of rising anti-Semitism in Venezuela, officials said Sunday.
The attorney general’s office said an agent of the federally controlled investigative police force and one of the synagogue’s security guards were among the 11 suspects arrested during raids over the weekend. The suspects are scheduled to be arraigned today.
On Jan. 30, about 15 people overpowered two security guards at the Tiferet Israel Synagogue, shattering religious objects and spray-painting “Jews, get out” on the walls. The assailants also stole a computer database with names and addresses.