GULF: Defiant Ahmadinejad sworn in as police break up protests
Thu Aug 6 05:30:26 EST 2009
by Jay Deshmukh and Farhad Pouladi
TEHRAN, Aug 5 AFP - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been sworn in for a second term as Iranian president, vowing more defiance of the West at a ceremony boycotted by his rivals, as police in full riot gear broke up protests by opposition demonstrators.
The 52-year-old hardliner took the oath of office for another four years at a ceremony in parliament on Wednesday after his landslide election victory in June that triggered the worst turmoil in the Islamic republic's history.
Ahmadinejad pledged to resist "oppressive powers", dismissed the US stance towards Iran and said his re-election heralds "major change in Iran and the world".
But prominent opposition leaders were absent from the ceremony, and outside a force of about 1,000 police and militiamen used pepper spray on demonstrators who insist his election was rigged, witnesses said.
Protesters chanted "death to the dictator" and anti-Ahmadinejad slogans, booing the security forces as police and Basij voluntary militia moved in to disperse them, a witness said. Several were arrested.
Hundreds of police and militiamen later deployed across central Tehran to prevent any further protests, but Ahmadinejad opponents took to rooftops after dusk in even larger numbers than in recent weeks to chant their opposition to his contested re-election.
Calls of "Allahu Akbar" (God is Greatest) rang out across the capital.
Wednesday's ceremony was boycotted by former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Ahmadinejad's main defeated challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi, who vowed that the opposition movement would go on despite a campaign of arrests.
Despite the international outcry over the election and its brutal aftermath, some foreign diplomats were present, including envoys from Britain, France and Sweden, which holds the EU presidency.
Britain's ambassador attended the inauguration because "hard-headed diplomacy" is required in dealings with the country, the Foreign Office said in a statement.
Although ambassador Simon Gass was present at the ceremony, Britain did not send a message of congratulations to Ahmadinejad, it added.
French foreign ministry spokesman Romain Nadal said that "in line with international law, (Paris) recognises states and not governments".
Ahmadinejad has a two-week deadline to form a new government that is likely to remain on a collision course with the West, particularly over Iran's controversial nuclear program.
"We will resist oppressors and try to correct the global discriminatory mechanisms in order to benefit all the nations of the world," Ahmadinejad said.
He took aim at the United States after the White House acknowledged him as the "elected" president of Iran but stopped short of declaring him the legitimate president and said it had no plans to congratulate him.
"This means they only want democracy which serves their interests and they don't respect people's votes and rights," Ahmadinejad retorted. "Iranians will neither value your scowling and bullying nor your smiles and greetings."
Hours after Ahmadinejad's broadside, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton paid tribute to Iran's opposition movement.
"We appreciate and we admire the continuing resistance and ongoing efforts by the reformers to make the changes that the Iranian people deserve," Clinton told reporters on an African tour.
But she added that the disputed election had not altered Washington's readiness to engage Tehran over its nuclear program.
"Our policy remains the same. We take the reality that the person who was inaugurated today will be considered the president," she said. "We are still clear in our policy that engagement is on the table for the Iranians."
Although enjoying grass-roots support among the poor, Ahmadinejad's re-election set off massive street protests, leading to a raft of political trials and increasing divisions among the ruling elite.
About 30 people have been killed in the violence, hundreds wounded and around 110 put on trial.
The next hearing in the largest trial has been postponed until Saturday to give the defence more time to prepare, a court statement said.
Mousavi said the arrests would not halt his campaign to have the official election results overturned.
"The fact is that this movement has stayed alive, showing that the arrests will not be effective," he said on his website.
