EJP | In Depth | World Cup | New protest against Iranian vice-president at World Cup

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New protest against Iranian vice-president at World Cup

Updated: 23/Jun/2006 14:52

An Iranian fan at World Cup game

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BERLIN (EJP)--- Around 250 people demonstrated Wednesday against a third visit of Iranian Vice president Mohammad Aliabadi to a FIFA World Cup football match in Leipzig, Wednesday.

Aliabadi has been following his national team throughout the competition. Iran played against Angola at the Leipzig municipal stadium.

Although the game ended 1:1, Iran finished last in the Group D series of games.

Aliabadi was accompanied to the game by his country’s deputy foreign minister Hamidreza Asefi.

The protest march was led by student and Jewish organisations, Iranian opposition groups, human rights activists as well as Green Party and Social Democrat politicians.

Green Party chairman Reinhard Buetikofer called Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad an “islamo-fascist”.

In his protest speech, Buetikofer made it clear that while Germans should reach out to the ordinary Iranian, they should not shy away from giving member’s of the Islamic Republic’s government the cold shoulder.

Buetikofer showed particular concern about Neo-Nazis’ recent adoption of the image of President Ahmadinejad as their new political symbol and rallying call.

He also reminded protestors that interior minister Wolfgang Schaeuble’s tacit invitation to Ahmadinejad was an affront to civilised societies.

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At the beginning of April, Schaeuble said, “as far as I am concerned, he is welcome to come to the World Cup. We have every intention of being good hosts.”

During the two hour demonstration, three neo-Nazi youths ran through the crowd of 250 protestors with an Iranian flag. No casualties were reported. The demonstration remained peaceful.

Burkhard Jung, Leipzig’s mayor, told welcomed all “peace loving” Iranians to his city.

“However, we must also be able to assert our ‘no’, loud and clear, to all the anti-Semitic calls by the Iranian president and his government,” the Social Democrat mayor said. “

“Just because we are in the middle of the World Cup does not mean that we must forget our political responsibilities. Pouring vanilla sauce onto a wonderful sporting event will not make the bad taste go away. It is our responsibility to uphold the torch of human dignity,” Jung continued.

The protest took place two hours before the kick off.

Placards read “no hospitality for political provocateurs”.

Buetikofer believes that Ahmadinejad has stayed away from Germany as a result of the street protests.