BRIEF ON IRAN No. 367 Tuesday, March 12, 1996 Representative Office of The National Council of Resistance of Iran 3421 M Street NW #1032 Washington, DC 20007 At Least 27 killed, 80 Wounded in Anti-government Protest, from statement by NCR, March 11 Reports from Bonab, in East Azerbaijan province, say that in the course of a demonstration by about 10,000 residents on Friday, scores of people were killed or wounded and the city was shut down. Terrified of the spread of the protest, special anti-riot forces were sent to scene. They immediately opened fire on the crowd. Latest news say that 27 people were killed. At least 80 protesters were also wounded.... Two security agents were also killed during the clashes. The protest began at 8:00 PM local time and continued the next day. At 2:00 AM Saturday... Many have been arrested during the skirmishes which continued sporadically on Sunday.... Mullahs, The Root of Terrorism, The Washington Times, March 6 Israel may resort to executions and other covert operations to dampen terrorist bombings, but it won't succeed totally until the backing for terrorism in Iran and Syria is ended, experts said... [Vincent Cannistraro, chief of anti terrorism at the CIA under President Bush: ] "What causes it [the attack on Israel] is training and resources provided by foreign governments.... It's the Iran that is strapped around suicide bombers." He said Iran should be made to pay for its sponsorship of terrorism and that sending technical help to Israel to detect explosives, as offered by the United States, was "marginal." Cutting off funds collected in the United States also would also do little.... Mr. Cannistraro noted that 10 days ago Iran's vice president, Hassan Habibi, met in Damascus with all of the radical terrorist organizations, including Hamas, Islamic Jihad.... Mr. Habibi expressed support for the terror groups' fight against Israel and the peace process.... Hezbollah Contradicts Rafsanjani's Denial, Associated Press, March 11 Tehran - ... Rafsanjani dismissed the summit [on terrorism] as part of a "propaganda ploy" by the Americans and called on the United States to prove its allegations. The president did not answer directly when asked if he denounced the militant Palestinian group Hamas, which carried out recent bombings in Israel.... "We support them as far as their national struggle is concerned. This is it. No more," Rafsanjani said. In Lebanon, the leader of the Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah also denounced the summit in Egypt.... "We don't hide Iranian support. There is no need to deny that we receive financial and political support from Iran," Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah secretary-general, was quoted as saying. "We are not shy and they (Iranians) are not afraid about it," he was quoted as saying in an interview published today in the London-based Arabic language weekly Al Wasat.... Velayati Voices Support for Hamas, Reuters, March 10 CAIRO - Casting a shadow over Wednesday's "Summit of Peacemakers," the Islamic militant group Hamas vowed to resume suicide bombings in Israel.... Iran, uninvited to the summit, denies actively helping radical Palestinian and other dissident groups. But Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati backed their right to struggle for their cause.... Turk Police Say Islamist Hitman Trained in Iran, Reuters, March 11 ISTANBUL - A senior Turkish policeman said on Monday that an Islamist hitman involved in a string of attacks on journalists, businessmen and Iranian dissidents had been trained in neighboring Iran. Anatolian news agency quoted Istanbul police chief Orhan Tasanlar as saying that Irfan Cagirici, a Turk detained last week for the murder of a journalist six years ago, had visited Iran for instruction frequently in the 1980s. "He also took militants he had recruited to the outlawed Islamic Movement organization to Iran on these trips for military and political training," the semi-official agency said. Cagirici played a key role in the 1992 abductions in Istanbul of Iranian dissidents Ali Akbar Ghorbani and Abbas Qolizadeh, the police chief said. Both were later found dead.... EU Fails to be Decisive Against Mullahs' Terrorism, The Washington Post, March 11 Rome - Responding to the recent wave of suicide bombings in Israel, the European Union called today for a clear statement of opposition to terrorism by Iran... Conferees in Palermo said that the EU, which has been reluctant to finger Iran as a sponsor of terrorism, felt compelled to stake out its own position on the issue. "We had to go with some voice to Egypt," an Italian Foreign Ministry official said... EU Fails to Make Rushdie Deal with Iran, United Press International, March 11 MADRID - Spanish negotiators acting for the European Union last year tried to reach an agreement with Iran that would have effectively lifted the fatwa on writer Salman Rushdie, Foreign Ministry officials in Madrid revealed Monday.... The EU's aim had been to get Iran to say it respected international law, denounced terrorism and would not send anybody to kill Rushdie, the spokesman explained....