Rioting erupts in Iranian hotbed of Kurdish
nationalism
TEHRAN, June 15 (AFP) -
8h51 - Hundreds of
Iranian Kurds have clashed violently with police in the northwestern
Iranian town of Mahabad, an historical centre of Kurdish nationalism,
the official news agency IRNA said Wednesday.
The rioting, which came just days before Iran is due to elect a new
president, was sparked by news from across the border in Iraq that
former rebel leader Massoud Barzani was sworn in as the first
president of Iraqi Kurdistan.
IRNA said a number of vehicles and shopfronts were damaged "when a
group of excited people" -- numbering around 300 -- took to the
streets of the town "on the pretext of joy because Massoud Barzani got
elected".
"In response to a police request to disperse, the crowd burned
tyres and inflicted damage to election campaign posters and threw
stones and bricks at police," IRNA said.
IRNA said the unrest died down shortly before midnight, but said
Mahabad's main street was littered with stones, bricks, shattered
mosaics and destroyed election campaign posters.
Iran's presidential election takes place on Friday.
Mahabad, still a Kurdish-majority town, is situated just south of
Lake Urumiyeh, near Iran's border with Turkey, and around 55
kilometres (35 miles) from the frontier with Kurdish-run Iraq.
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