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Germany says rejected Iran extradition
request of Kurdish PJAK leader
10.3.2010
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March
10, 2010
BERLIN, — Germany
said on Tuesday it had turned down a request from
Iran to extradite a Kurdish leader, who was detained
but later freed, prompting an angry response from
Tehran.
The news came a day after Germany, which is involved
in international efforts to curb Iran's nuclear
programme, said it would grant political asylum to a
number of Iranians, a move which also angered the
Islamic Republic.
A German Foreign Ministry spokesman said Tehran had
sought the extradition of Abdul Rahman Haji-Ahmadi
last December. Iran says Haji-Ahmadi leads an
Iranian Kurdish separatist group from his home in
Germany.
"This (extradition) was rejected at the end of
January on the grounds that he is a German citizen,"
he added.
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Abdul Rahman Haji Ahmadi, leader of the
Iranian Party for a Free Life of Kurdistan, or PJAK |
In the city of Cologne,
public prosecutor Ulrich Boden told Reuters that
Haji-Ahmadi had been detained and later freed, but
declined to give any further details of the case.
Media reports suggested that Haji-Ahmadi was
detained after the extradition request had been
turned down.
"The European countries, despite chanting the slogan
of defending human rights, are practically
supporting terrorism," Iran's Foreign Ministry
spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told a news conference
in Tehran. "There are many clues showing that Europe
has become a safe haven for terrorists."
Iran says Haji-Ahmadi leads the PJAK (Party of Free
Life of Kurdistan), an offshoot of the Kurdish
separatist group PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party)
which mostly operates in Turkey. The European Union
considers the PKK a terrorist organisation.
Earlier in the week Iranian parliamentary speaker
Ali Larijani again called for Germany to hand over
Haji-Ahmadi,www.ekurd.netcalling
PJAK a terrorist group.
Mehmanparast also criticised Germany for its
decision to grant asylum to some Iranians, a move
that appeared to be targeted at people whom Tehran
regards as dissidents.
"Some people who have no problem returning to Iran
... present their situation as if lives are
endangered and European countries also want to use
this matter to say Iranians are massively moving to
Western countries," he said.
Iran was the scene of major protests after the
re-election of hardline President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad last year.
Germany is working with its allies on a new round of
possible sanctions against the Iran over its nuclear
programme which Western nations believe is aimed at
developing a nuclear bomb. Tehran says its nuclear
ambitions are entirely peaceful.
The PJAK, or the (Partiya Jiyana Azad a Kurdistane) (Party of Free Life of
Kurdistan), is a militant Kurdish nationalist group based in northern Iraq that
has been carrying out attacks Iranian revolutionary guards in the Kurdistan Province of Iran
(Eastern Kurdistan) and other Kurdish-inhabited areas.
Since
2004 the PJAK took up arms for self-rule in Kurdistan province northwestern of
Iran (Iranian Kurdistan, Eastern Kurdistan). Half the members of PJAK
are women. The PJAK has about 3,000 armed
militiamen.
The United States on February 4, 2009 added the Iranian Kurdish PJAK militant group
opposed to Iran
to its list of terrorist
organizations.
Germany says rejected Iran extradition request
of Kurdish PJAK leader 10.3.2010
Iran criticizes
Germany for releasing Kurdish PJAK leader
9.3.2010
Iran urges Germany to hand over Kurdish PJAK
detained leader 9.3.2010
Iran was behind the
arrest of PJAK leader 8.3.2010
Kurdish PJAK leader arrested in Germany 7.3.2010
Copyright, respective author or news agency,
Reuters | Agencies
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