Archive for June 13th, 2009

By their friends shall you know them - Ahmadinejad with 'Mad Bob' Mugabe

With over 80 percent of votes counted, incumbent president reported as holding decisive majority; challenger Mousavi claims voting fraud:

Current [Iran] President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad received a decisive majority in his country’s presidential election after 81% of the votes were counted on Saturday.  The Interior Ministry, in charge of the voting, confirmed the president’s majority as state news agencies reported that Ahmadinejad had received 64.77% of the vote.

Pro-reform rival, former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi, countered that he was the clear victor and accused authorities of fraud. A large turnout at the polls had boosted victory hopes for Mousavi supporters.

Early Saturday, police dispersed crowds of Mousavi supporters who had gathered in front of the election commission building. Meanwhile, despite a prohibition on public gatherings prior to a formal victory announcement, Ahmadinejad supporters had already begun celebrations. Read the rest of this entry »