Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi - December 27, 2002

Translation:

In many of today's Friday prayers, the Participation Front (Hezb-e Mosharekat) was harshly criticized.

There is significant media discussion regarding Mr. Khatami's trip to Pakistan and several explosions in cities like Karachi during his visit, as well as the discovery of an assassination plot involving weapons planted along his route.

Full Text of the Daily Diary:

I stayed at home; the day was spent studying bulletins, reviewing the draft of the book "Their Excellencies: Radicals of Yesterday and Liberals of Today" [written by Mr. Habibullah Hamidi], and revising interviews with Mr. [Abbas] Salimi-Namin [Director of the Office for Iranian History Studies and Compilation].

Foreign media are portraying the statements made by Mr. [Abbas] Abdi [social researcher] [during interrogations and court proceedings] as a cause for embarrassment and instability within the Left wing, while some are attempting to justify them. In many of today’s Friday prayers, the Participation Front was harshly criticized, and the good faith of that movement was called into question.

There is extensive media discussion regarding President [Seyyed Mohammad] Khatami’s trip to Pakistan and several explosions in cities like Karachi during his stay. There is also talk of the discovery of an assassination plot involving weapons planted along his route. Reports are also circulating regarding India's reaction—and its subsequent opposition—to Mr. Khatami’s proposal for Iranian mediation on the Kashmir issue between Pakistan and India, given Mr. Khatami’s expression of sympathy for Kashmiri Muslims. Additionally, India's negative response to Iran’s request regarding the gas pipeline is being discussed.

In Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, two explosions at the central headquarters have left about 40 dead and a large number of people injured. The American newspaper, The Washington Post, has criticized the United States' torture and mistreatment of prisoners at Guantanamo.

In Palestine, a number of oppressed people are being martyred, wounded, or arrested daily by Israeli military forces, while Muslims and Arabs limit themselves to mere condemnations. U.S. and British airstrikes against targets in Iraq have increased. In Turkey, for the second time, Parliament has amended the constitution in favor of the Islamists; President [Ahmet Necdet Sezer] must now refer it either to the court or to a referendum.

In Afghanistan, [Gulbuddin] Hekmatyar [leader of Hezb-e-Islami] has officially declared that a Jihad must be waged against the Americans, similar to the Jihad against the Soviets in the past. In response, the Afghan government attacked Hekmatyar, holding him responsible for the vast amount of blood shed in the past.

A bomb exploded in a market in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, leaving six dead and 40 wounded.