BETTER A LIVE THORN IN YOUR SIDE THAN A MARTYR:

Iran to Lift Dissident Cleric's House Arrest After 5 Years (ELAINE SCIOLINO, January 28, 2003, NY Times)

In a surprise move, Iran will release its most senior dissident cleric from the house arrest that was imposed on him five years ago, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported today.

Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, the cleric, was once in line to succeed Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini as Iran's supreme leader, the most powerful position in the country.

But he fell out of favor with the Islamic republic in the late 1980's when he criticized the government's excesses, accusing the judiciary of "murdering" its political opponents, faulting government policies for paralyzing the economy and questioning the official view that Iran had won the war against Iraq. When Ayatollah Khomeini issued a ruling calling for the assassination of Salman Rushdie, Ayatollah Montazeri refused to endorse it.

In March 1989, Ayatollah Khomeini stripped him of his position as designated successor. He was put under house arrest in November 1997, when he said Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the man who became supreme leader in his place, was not competent to issue religious rulings.

The decision to free Ayatollah Montazeri from house arrest, which could occur as early as Tuesday, was made by the Supreme Council of National Security, which reports to the reformist president, Mohammad Khatami. It will mean the removal of armed security police officers stationed in a bulletproof trailer outside the ayatollah's modest home in the city of Qum, a senior Iranian official said in an interview. The ban on his giving speeches or conducting public activities will also be lifted, the official added.

Hard to see it as anything other than a sign of weakness on the part of the clerics and the government. Posted by Orrin Judd at January 28, 2003 9:23 AM