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Iran’s opposition will keep up government protest: Karoubi
fran!s opposition will keep up goverrin'cit protest: Karoubi Reutersoom http://www.rei serscom'arficlePrint?arficleId—USTRE57323 320090804 : t REUTERS Print I Close this window Iran 's opposition will keep up government protest: Karoubi Tue Aug 4, 2009 7:49am EDT MADRID (Reuters) - Defeated Iranian presidential candidates Mehdi Karoubi and Mirhossein Mousavi will keep up protests against the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Karoubi was quoted as saying on Tuesday. Karoubi, the most liberal of Ahmadinejad's three opponents in the disputed June 12 election, has been vocal in his complaints of irregularities in the process. “Neither Mousavi nor I have withdrawn. We will continue to protest and we will never collaborate with this government. We will not harm it, but we will criticize what it does,” Karoubi said in an interview with the El Pais Spanish daily. He attributed recent unrest and street protests in the country squarely on the way authorities handled the election. “Qufte honestly, if the authorities had acted in a different way, we would never have had these problems, because the majority of those protesting only did so for that reason,” Karoubi said. The Iranian people want a solution to the unrest and stability as soon as possible, he said, adding that both he and Mousavi are concerned about the killing of street protesters. Karoubi is in favor of negotiations with the United States and other Western governments to attempt to open up the channels of communication with Iran. “The most beneficial thing for the Iranians is negotiations. Nobody benefits from our ongoing problems with the United States,” he said. (Reporting by Judy MacI nnes) © Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. Users may download and print extracts of content from this we ite for their own personal and non-commercial use only. Republication or redistribution of Thomson Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters. Thomson Reuters and its logo are registered trademarks or trademariw of the Thomson Reuters group of companies around the world. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests. 1 of 1 8/13/2009 3:40 PM