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Iran: Toll of Iran-Linked Assassinations Rising in Europe and Middle East
The February extradition from Paris of two "hit men" traveling on Iranian diplomatic passports, and the Jan. 29 discovery in Turkey of the tortured and mutilated body of an Iranian opposition figure, spotlight the continuing assassination campaign being waged throughout the world by the Iranian regime of Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
Western media attention has focused on author Salman Rushdie's so far successful attempt to evade self-appointed "executioners" seeking to carry out the death sentence pronounced upon him by the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini for blasphemous passages in Rushdie's book The Satanic Verses. What is less known, however, is the steady toll of successful assassinations not only of Iranian opposition figures, but also of journalists and political figures in Muslim countries who have been critical of Iran or of the extremism it attempts to export.
Incidents aimed at destroying Egypt's tourism industry and bringing the government of President Hosni Mubarak to its knees have provoked an Egyptian government crackdown in neighborhoods of Cairo and areas of Upper Egypt where support for Islamic radicalism is believed to be concentrated.
The government of Turkey, which is equally dependent upon tourism for much-needed foreign exchange, has been slower to acknowledge the secret war being waged within its borders. A dramatic incident occurred on Oct. 19, 1988, when Turkish customs agents heard strange noises coming from the luggage compartment of an automobile with diplomatic plates waiting to cross the border from Turkey into Iran.
Occupants of the car from the Iranian Embassy...