In brief: Iranian was missile expert
TEHRAN, Iran – A Revolutionary Guard commander killed in an explosion at an ammunition depot west of Tehran was a key figure in Iran’s missile program, the elite military force said in a statement Sunday.
Gen. Hasan Moghaddam was killed along with 16 other Guard members Saturday at a military site near Tehran. The Guard said the accidental explosion occurred while military personnel were transporting munitions.
The Guard praised Moghaddam, saying the military force will not forget his “effective role in the development of the country’s defense … and his efforts in launching and organizing the Guard’s artillery and missile units,” the semiofficial Fars news agency quoted the statement as saying Sunday.
Blogger’s arrest extended
CAIRO – Egypt’s military ordered a prominent blogger to be held in custody for 15 more days Sunday in a move likely to focus criticism against the country’s ruling generals in the run-up to parliamentary elections, due to begin later this month.
The detention of Alaa Abdel-Fattah, a well-known blogger and leader during the 18-day uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak in February, has elicited international condemnation and galvanized those who accuse the army of using Mubarak-era tactics to smear critics.
Military prosecutors summoned Abdel-Fattah and detained him on Oct. 30 after he refused to answer questions over his alleged role in sectarian clashes last month that killed 27 people, most of them Christians.
He has not been charged, though the head of the military court, Gen. Adel al-Mursi, said in a statement in Egyptian state media Sunday that Abdel-Fattah is accused of stealing a military weapon, deliberately destroying military property and attacking security forces.
Abdel-Fattah denies all allegations.
Dissident raises $1.4 million
BEIJING – Dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei said today that supporters have sent him nearly $1.4 million to help him fight a huge tax bill that he says is government harassment.
The Beijing tax bureau is demanding that Ai’s design company Beijing Fake Cultural Development Ltd. pay $2.4 million in back taxes and fines.
Ai, an internationally acclaimed conceptual artist, was detained for nearly three months earlier this year during an overall crackdown on dissent.
The $1.4 million Ai has received is enough for him to put down a guarantee required by the tax authority to obtain an administrative review of the case.
Ai’s supporters have sent money through wire transfers or thrown cash stuffed in envelopes or wrapped around fruit into his yard. Ai has said he will not treat the money as donations, but as loans that he would repay.