Alireza Afshar

YAZD, Nov. 20--Mobilization of popular forces by the judiciary under the name of "Social Protection Taskforce" is tantamount to duplicating Basij (volunteer forces), deputy head of the Armed Forces for cultural affairs said Saturday.
Referring to the law providing judicial support for Basijis, Brigadier General Alireza Afshar also told ISNA that this law stipulates that a taskforce should be set up under the supervision of the judiciary, Islamic Republic of Iran Police and Basij. He asserted that this taskforce will comprise representatives of the three
bodies.
"This taskforce should be set up in provincial capitals and major cities to help the judiciary fulfill its duties," he said.
Noting that the taskforce has not been finalized as yet, Afshar expressed hope that during its upcoming sessions, decisions will be adopted to avoid duplicating tasks of
parallel bodies.

King Abdullah II

AMMAN, Jordan, Nov. 20--Jordan's King Abdullah II emphasized Iran's role in the Middle East on Friday.
Speaking in a live TV interview with participants at Portugal's "International Data and News Interchange Conference 2004", the Jordanian king said Iran's role is "both sensitive and vital in the region", IRNA
reported.
Referring to political ties between Iran and the West, he said, "The two sides need to move along with the international community and solve their differences of opinion."
On the western media's sporadic attacks on Islam and proclivities to attribute most of the terrorist moves in the world to Islam, King Abdullah said, "Despite those arguments, Islam is the religion of forgiveness and equality, and the world Muslims righteously expect stronger ties with followers of other faiths in this 21st
century."
Commenting on developments in Palestine following the demise of PA President Yasser Arafat, he said, "Washington and Tel Aviv's pretext for not activating the halted Middle East peace process had thus far been to accuse the late Palestinian leader Arafat of creating obstacles, but now they cannot resort to that pretext."

GOLPAEGAN, Isfahan, Nov. 20--Eighteen people were killed and 52 others wounded when three buses collided on the Isfahan-Golpaegan Road in this central province early Saturday.
The accident happened when a bus moving from Golpaegan to Tehran collided with two buses moving from the southern city of Shiraz to Tehran at 30 kilometers from Golpaegan, IRNA reported.
Police said a preliminary investigation pointed to foggy weather and recklessness on the part of one of the drivers as the cause.
Iran has one of the highest road accident rates in the world. Transport experts blame most of the accidents on hazardous roads and reckless driving.

On 8th Shawwal, 1345 AH (April 21, 1925), which coincides this year with November 21, a strange spectacle unfolded at the Jannat Al-Baqie Cemetery of Medina. To the shock and horror of pilgrims thronging the sacred grounds, an unruly mob burst upon the scene with shovels, pickaxes and truncheons and started demolishing the domes and canopies that shaded the blessed tombs of over a thousand companions of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), the resting places of two of his aunts, an uncle and, most important of all, four of his infallible descendents.
In a frenzy, the mob struck with savage vengeance at the grand mausoleum that towered over all other edifices in Baqie and demolished its dome. This was the most blessed spot in Baqie. It housed the blessed burial spots of Imam Hassan Mojtaba (AS), Imam Zain Al-Abedin (AS), Imam Mohammad Baqer (AS) and Imam Ja'far Sadeq (AS), the 2nd, 4th, 5th and 6th Imams respectively of the Prophet's blessed household.
It is a tragedy of Islamic history that these desecrators of Islamic sanctity styled themselves as 'puritanical' Muslims. A great misnomer, indeed! The same year the Wahhabis went on to pillage Mecca and razed to the ground another heritage of Islam, the Jannat Al-Moalla Cemetery and desecrated the tombs of the Prophet's uncle, grandfather, mother and the faithful wife, Umm Al-Mominin (Mother of Believers), Hazrat Khadija (SA).
When a magnificent mausoleum was erected over the tombs of the four Infallible Imams, offerings began to pour in from distant lands such as Iran, Turkey and India to further embellish it. For over a millennium, Baqie remained a sacred site with renovations carried out from time to time, until the Wahhabis rose to power. They desecrated the tombs and demonstrated disrespect to the martyrs and the companions of the Prophet. Muslims who disagreed with them were branded infidels and killed.
In 1925 Madina surrendered to the Wahhabis, who destroyed all Islamic heritage and the only shrine left intact, for political reasons, was the Prophet's holy mausoleum.
After protests by world Muslims, assurances were given by King Abdel-Aziz that it will be restored but the promise was never fulfilled. In the 1953 conference in Karachi, Pakistan, also attended by a delegation from the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Saudi Arabia again promised the restoration of Baqie but did not take action. Assurances have actually increased over the past few years, especially after former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani's visit to the holy cities a few years ago as the official guest of the Saudi royal family.
It is earnestly hoped that due action will soon be taken to restore the glory of the blessed Baqie, especially after the slackening of Wahhabism and the exposure of its links to terrorist groups. It is strange that the Wahhabis find it offensive to have tombs, shrines and other places of importance, while the remains of their kings are being guarded at a cost of millions of dollars.
Until then, the 8th of Shawwal will remain a Black Letter Day for world Muslims, especially for the followers of the Prophet's Ahlul-Bayt (AS).

TEHRAN, Nov. 20--An earthquake measuring 4.9 on the open-ended Richter scale shook the city of Shoushtar in the southwestern province of Khuzestan early on Saturday for the seventh time.
According to the seismological base of Tehran University's Geophysics Institute, the tremor occurred at 03:15 a.m. Saturday (1145 GMT), IRNA reported.
There were no reports of any casualty or damage to property.
Six earthquakes measuring 4.7, 4.4, 3.4, 3.2, 3.4 and 3.1 on the Richter scale hit the city of Shoushtar between 8:54 p.m. Friday (0524 GMT) to 1:54 a.m. Saturday (1024 GMT).
Iran is situated on some of the world's most active seismic fault-lines and quakes of varying magnitudes are of usual occurrence.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Nov. 20--Iran and Thailand agreed here Saturday on extradition of criminals.
In a meeting with Iranian ambassador to Thailand Mohsen Pak-Ain, Thai Justice Minister Pongthep Thepkanjana said his country is ready to sign a judicial cooperation treaty with Iran.
Pongthep also agreed with Pak-Ain's request to provide more facilities for Iranian prisoners who are in Thai custody. "The Thai government has a positive attitude toward this issue and will try to transfer all Iranian prisoners from different parts of Thailand to Bangkok to provide more facilities to them. We will try to have more Iranian prisoners freed on clemency," he said.
Pak-Ain, for his part, said a majority of Iranian prisoners have been arrested due to their lack of knowledge about Thai laws and regulations.