Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi - April 28, 2002

 Meeting with Tribal Basij Officials from All Over the Country to Support the Palestinian People

The report of the head of the stock exchange on the progress of the work of the stock exchange and the proposal for the establishment of the Metals, Petroleum and Agriculture Exchange.

Full text of the diary:

Tribal Basij officials came from all over the country to support the Palestinian people.Two Arab and Bakhtiari poets read poetry.General [Seyyed Mohammad] Hejazi, [commander of the Basij Resistance Force], reported that 300,000 people are members of the tribal Basij.I talked to them about the tribal mobilization and Palestine, they are warm and passionate.  

 Mr. [Hassan] Danaeifar, [deputy secretary of the Expediency Council], came and told him about his negotiations with the Palestinian delegations.

Mr. [Ahmad] Mir Motahari, the head of the Tehran Stock Exchange, came and presented a report on the progress of the stock exchange and proposed the establishment of a metals, oil and agriculture exchange. He considers the position of the stock exchange inappropriate.  

In the evening, the Board of Trustees of the Islamic Azad University had a meeting. The centers of Taft, Mehriz, Keshkuyeh and Bahraman also received a license in principle to establish a technical and vocational school in the Sama Schools Organization.About 600 schools, units and university centers reported and approval was obtained in principle for the establishment of a virtual university on the Internet.  

 In Russia, a helicopter crashed and a number of people were killed, including [General] Alexander Lebed, [former secretary of the Russian Security Council and] a former presidential candidate. A number of people were also killed in an explosion at a store. In the Iranian and foreign media, [Russian President] Putin's order to conduct exercises in the Caspian Sea has various reflections and analyses. At least 25 people have been killed in clashes in eastern Afghanistan.  

The White House announced that the siege [of Yasser] Arafat [the president of the Palestinian Authority] was over and Israel was withdrawing from Ramallah. The siege of the Church of the Nativity [eight kilometers south of Jerusalem] is still ongoing, and the talks have been inconclusive. Israel again refused to allow the UN fact-finding mission to enter, and they canceled their tickets. Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said that if the United States does not cut off Israel's hand from the Palestinians, the Arabs may use the tactic of cutting off oil.  

 In Indonesia, a group dressed in military uniforms attacked a church and killed 12 people. The White House announced that the threat of new terrorist attacks on the United States is serious and that civil liberties should be further curtailed in order to ensure security.