A backer of Mir Hossein Mousavi helps evacuate an injured riot-police officer during riots in Tehran on June 13, 2009. — OLIVIER LABAN-MATTEI/AFP/Getty Images
A supporter of defeated presidential candidate Mousavi is beaten by government security men as fellow supporters come to his aid during riots in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, June 14, 2009.— AP
An injured backer of Mir Hossein Mousavi covers his bloodied face during riots in Tehran on June 13, 2009. — OLIVIER LABAN-MATTEI/AFP/Getty Images
Supporters of Mir Hussein Moussavi, Iran’s leading challenger against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. — NY Times
The strongest challenger to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad attracted an unusually large and exuberant crowd of supporters on Monday during a campaign speech in this northwest city near the candidate’s birthplace, with only a few weeks before national elections that the incumbent stands a serious chance of losing.
The crowd for the challenger, Mir Hussein Moussavi, was extraordinary not only for its size — an estimated 30,000 — but also because the supporters were not paid, given free food, bused in or ordered by their workplaces to attend, a tactic sometimes used by Mr. Ahmadinejad’s campaign. — NY Times
Pointing to a New Era, U.S. Pulls Back as Iraqis Vote
Iraqis across the country voted Saturday in provincial elections that will help shape their future, but regardless of the outcome it is clear that the Americans are already drifting offstage — and that most Iraqis are ready to see them go.
The signs of mutual disengagement are everywhere. In the days leading up to the elections, it was possible to drive safely from near the Turkish border in the north to Baghdad and on south to Basra, just a few miles from the Persian Gulf — without seeing an American convoy. In the Green Zone — once host to the American occupation government, and now the seat of the Iraqi government — the primary PX is set to close, and the Americans have retreated to their vast, garrisoned new embassy compound. Iraqi soldiers now handle all Green Zone checkpoints. — NY Times
Bolivian President Evo Morales has claimed victory in a referendum on a new constitution aimed at improving conditions for the indigenous majority. — BBC







