Akbar Hashemi memoirs - May 29, 2003

I went to the Prophet’s birthday ceremony at the Leader’s office. The ceremony was held as every year, and there was no important issue in the remarks of the Leader and the President.

Mr. [Seyyed Mohammad] Khatami told me that the United States is under heavy pressure from Britain and Afghanistan, etc., and is claiming that members of Al-Qaeda are in Iran; including Saif al-Adel Mohamed Makkawi, an Egyptian fugitive officer who is considered the planner of the recent operation in Saudi Arabia. He said that he is currently in prison and does not have access to carry out operations, and there is a view that he may be exchanged with Massoud Rajavi, [the leader of the Mujahedin-e Khalq], who is currently in the hands of the Americans.

The Americans have, for several days, been running extensive propaganda about the presence of Al-Qaeda members in Iran, and generally extensive official and public anti-Iran activities are currently underway in the United States; such as launching a Persian-language television channel, launching a Persian website on the internet, allocating funds for action against Iran, forming mixed groups of Iranian opposition elements and Americans, etc.

Today in Iraq, there were protests in many cities in which people demanded the formation of an Iraqi government, the withdrawal of the occupiers, and the acceleration of security and public services. US forces in Azamiyah, Baghdad, killed two people and injured several others, and in Diyala they attacked an office of the Supreme Council, killing one person and injuring several others. Paul Bremer, [head of the Coalition Provisional Authority], said that Iraqis should not demand an Iraqi government, but rather that the term “administration of Iraq” is more appropriate and that the government will remain for a while in the hands of the occupiers. These statements caused reactions from opposition leaders and the public.

Today in Palestine, several operations were carried out by fighters against Israelis in retaliation for recent Israeli crimes in Gaza and the West Bank and the declaration of a closed military zone there. Among them, a woman [named Hiba Daraghmeh] in the city of Afula in northern Israel carried out a suicide operation, killing four people and injuring 20 others. Morocco and Saudi Arabia have said that they have arrested a number of perpetrators of recent explosions and claim that nine fighters in Morocco and ten in Saudi Arabia are among those killed in recent suicide operations, which seems unlikely.

In Sri Lanka, floods and landslides have killed 150 people and left 150,000 homeless. In Afghanistan, clashes between armed groups have left six dead and many injured.