Reformist

He was for years Libya's greatest hope for a peaceful, orderly transition away from his erratic father's autocratic rule. As such, the seemingly open-minded son of Col. Moammar Kadafi was feted by world leaders and greeted with approval by international human rights groups and even some opposition activists as a beacon of reform in a politically ossified North Africa. Now Seif Islam Kadafi, 38, is hunkered down in a besieged capital, shorn of his reformist mantle and taking a front-and-center role in organizing his family's defiant attempt to survive a revolt that has left rebels in control of large swaths of the desert nation.

He was for years Libya's greatest hope for a peaceful, orderly transition away from his erratic father's autocratic rule. As such, the seemingly open-minded son of Col. Moammar Kadafi was feted by world leaders and greeted with approval by international human rights groups and even some opposition activists as a beacon of reform in a politically ossified North Africa. Now Seif Islam Kadafi, 38, is hunkered down in a besieged capital, shorn of his reformist mantle and taking a front-and-center role in organizing his family's defiant attempt to survive a revolt that has left rebels in control of large swaths of the desert nation.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, his controversial reelection affirmed by clerical allies a day earlier, on Tuesday hailed his victory as a triumph for the nation as opponents continued to question the legitimacy of the vote. The hard-line president blamed unspecified "conspiracies" and Iran's "enemies" for the recent turmoil over the election, which led to a severe crackdown in which dozens of Iranians were killed and hundreds jailed.

City managers convicted of felony misuse of taxpayer funds would lose public pension benefits under a legislative proposal that is among several introduced this month in response to the financial scandal in Bell. The fresh round of Bell-inspired bills comes after lawmakers failed to pass similar measures in the final days of last year's legislative session. The current proposals may have better odds because lawmakers will have more time to vet them in committee and refine them over several months.

Iranian security forces patrolled central Tehran on Thursday and the home of a reformist leader reportedly remained under siege by pro-government militiamen in what appeared to be attempts to intimidate the political opposition ahead of rallies planned for Friday. Riot police lined the streets near Enghelab Square and around Tehran University in the morning hours ahead of Friday's gatherings to mark Quds Day, an annual event in support of the Palestinian struggle against Israel that the government fears will draw opposition supporters to the streets.

An Iranian lawmaker vowed today to examine allegations that dozens of unidentified people killed in the recent post-election unrest were secretly buried in the country's largest cemetery last month. The reformist website Norooznews.org on Friday cited an unnamed employee of the capital's Behesht Zahra cemetery as saying that 44 unidentified corpses were buried under heavy security July 12 and 15. Majid Nasirpour, a reformist lawmaker who serves on parliament's Social Affairs Committee, filed a request for an inquiry into the mass burial allegation, the website Parlemannews.

The top figure of Iran's nascent political reform movement, opposition presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi, will launch a political party to pursue his goals, a reformist newspaper reported Sunday. Iranian officials, meanwhile, released a jailed European journalist and the lawyer of an imprisoned employee of the British Embassy in Tehran said he was confident that his client's case would be resolved.

Iranian President Mohammad Khatami has issued a rare warning to the hard-line judiciary to stop prosecuting reformist members of parliament, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported. Hard-line courts regularly summon outspoken reformist parliamentarians and have sentenced at least three to prison. "It is part of [the members of parliament's] duties to freely express their opinions, and they must be immune from prosecution," Khatami said in a letter to the judiciary chief.

Political turmoil built today over the burning of an image of Iran's revolutionary founder, which was aired, in a controversial move, on state television. Accusations that the incident was carried out by anti-government demonstrators sparked protests as well as threats against reformist leaders. Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei today said reformist politicians and anti-government demonstrators had defiled the image of his predecessor, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, during Student Day protests last week.

Iran's hard-line president Friday demanded the prosecution of top opposition leaders, raising the political temperature anew just a day and a half after supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei sought to cool tensions in a conciliatory speech. Meanwhile, the U.N.'s atomic watchdog agency delivered a quarterly assessment of Iran's controversial nuclear program, reporting that the Islamic Republic had granted inspectors access to sensitive research sites but has continued to stonewall efforts to examine past nuclear research allegedly weapons-related.

Iranian security forces patrolled central Tehran on Thursday and the home of a reformist leader reportedly remained under siege by pro-government militiamen in what appeared to be attempts to intimidate the political opposition ahead of rallies planned for Friday. Riot police lined the streets near Enghelab Square and around Tehran University in the morning hours ahead of Friday's gatherings to mark Quds Day, an annual event in support of the Palestinian struggle against Israel that the government fears will draw opposition supporters to the streets.

One of Iran's most acclaimed film directors has been detained amid an ongoing government crackdown against the opposition, an official said Tuesday. Jafar Panahi, an award-winning director of neorealist films exploring Iran's social topography, along with his wife, 20-year-old daughter and 15 guests were reportedly arrested at his home Monday night in murky circumstances under unspecified charges. Among the guests, according to the reformist news website Aftab, were documentary filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof and his cameraman.

With street protests raging in Iran, political activism is on the rise among Los Angeles' already vocal Iranian American community. Flag-waving demonstrators clad in the opposition movement's signature green have been a common sight outside the Federal Building in Westwood, and Iranian-language media is abuzz with debate. But when it comes to the three young American hikers being held in Iran on espionage charges the community has been decidedly silent. No large demonstrations, little conversation, virtually no push for action.

Reporting from Beirut — Defying publicly aired demands for his execution, Iran's leading opposition figure today issued a scathing denunciation of the government's violent crackdown against his supporters, calling for a restoration of civil liberties as a way of ending what he described as a "serious crisis" that has destabilized the nation. Mir Hossein Mousavi's statement, posted to reformist websites this morning, were his first public comments since a violent weekend of protests coinciding with an important religious holiday.

Reporting from Tehran — One of Iran's most senior dissident clerics, a staunch defender of the nation's opposition movement as well as a learned theologian and pillar of the Islamic revolution 31 years ago, passed away overnight. Grand Ayatollah Hussein-Ali Montazeri was 87. His death comes as Iranian protesters prepare to take part in emotionally charged Muharram ceremonies marking the Seventh Century martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammad and a highly revered figure within Iran's majority Shiite Muslim faith.

Political turmoil built Sunday over the burning of an image of Iran's revolutionary founder, which was aired, in a controversial move, on state television. Accusations that the incident was carried out by anti-government demonstrators sparked protests as well as threats against reformist leaders. Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday said reformist politicians and anti-government demonstrators had defiled the image of his predecessor, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, during National Students Day protests last week.

Reporting from Tehran — One of Iran's most senior dissident clerics, a staunch defender of the nation's opposition movement as well as a learned theologian and pillar of the Islamic revolution 31 years ago, passed away overnight. Grand Ayatollah Hussein-Ali Montazeri was 87. His death comes as Iranian protesters prepare to take part in emotionally charged Muharram ceremonies marking the Seventh Century martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammad and a highly revered figure within Iran's majority Shiite Muslim faith.

The landslide reelection of Bolivia's leftist President Evo Morales this week comes as no surprise. He is the first Aymara Indian and native Quechua-speaker to lead the country, whose indigenous majority was underrepresented and widely exploited for centuries by a minority of European descent. A new Constitution, drafted under his stewardship, codifies Bolivia's "plurinational" character and cultural diversity. He nationalized the energy and telecommunications industries, raised taxes on foreign firms and delivered on promises to use income from natural resources to fund programs for the poor.