Akbar Hashemi's Memoirs - October 11, 2002

George Bush: Countdown to the overthrow of the Iraqi Baath government has begun

Amidst the astonishment of observers, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Jimmy Carter

Fidel Castro: The deployment of Russian nuclear missiles in Cuba was a mistake.

Full text of the daily:

I went to Tehran University for the Friday prayer. The father of Mohammad al-Durrah, a famous Palestinian martyr, was also there; I gave him a gift. He spoke briefly between the two prayers. He was still suffering from the bullet wounds he had received. A group of wounded in the intifada, who are also being treated in Iranian hospitals, participated in the Friday prayer and chanted Arabic slogans. I gave a gift to one of the taekwondo athletes who had been declared the loser for refusing to compete with an Israeli athlete and encouraged him. I gave a sermon on courage and fear and a sermon on current affairs. I thanked the National Council of Churches in America for protesting Pastor [Jerry] Falwell [for insulting the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)].

A good march was held after Friday prayers to protest the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel by the US Congress and the US government. Most of my time was spent studying and correcting the indexes to Volume 14 of the Guide to Interpretation.

The US Senate also authorized the US government to use force to disarm Iraq, and George Bush [US President] immediately said that the countdown to the overthrow of the Iraqi Baath government had begun, and Tariq Aziz [Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister] announced that the US was seeking to divide Iraq and dominate the region's oil resources.

In Grozny, [the capital of the Chechen Republic], a bomb exploded at the central police headquarters, killing 19 and wounding 20. A Palestinian militant carried out a suicide bombing next to an Israeli bus, killing one and wounding 30. In Pakistan, parliamentary elections were held for the first time since the military coup, and initial reports indicated that the Islamists, a coalition of seven parties, had come third, with no party having an absolute majority.

To the astonishment of observers, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Jimmy Carter, [former US President]; Because of his peaceful approach to world issues including Iran, Palestine, Camp David and human rights, and Mr. Bell, the chairman of the Nobel Prize committee, has explicitly stated that this choice was made as a protest against the war-mongering policy of [George] Bush, this is a significant misstatement.

Mr. Fidel Castro, [the Cuban leader], said at a meeting of those involved in the former Cuban Missile Crisis that the deployment of Russian nuclear missiles in Cuba was a mistake.