TEHRAN // Iran hanged the Sunni militant leader Abdolmalek Rigi in Evin prison yesterday for "taking up arms against the Islamic state and corruption on earth" after his appeal against his death sentence was turned down by the country's chief justice.
According to a statement on the website of the Public and Revolutionary Court, Rigi had pleaded guilty to all 79 charges against him, including armed attack and robbery, bombing, kidnapping and murder and connections with foreign secret services, including "intelligence officers of the US and Israel working under the cover of Nato and certain Arab countries" as well as "anti-revolutionary expatriate groups such as the MKO", the People's Mujahedin of Iran.
During his trial, the rebel leader "requested the victims' families' forgiveness" and asked the members of his organisation "not to repeat his mistakes", the statement said.
The 26-year-old leader of the Pakistan-based Jundullah, also known as the People's Resistance Movement of Iran, was arrested by Iranian security forces on February 23 when his flight from Dubai to Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan was forced to land in Bandar Abbas in southern Iran by Iranian fighter jets, and searched by security forces.
Rigi, whose organisation ambushed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidential motorcade in 2005 during his visit to Sistan and Baluchistan province and killed one of his bodyguards, was shown on Iran's state-run Press TV two days after his arrest confessing to his links to Nato officials in Afghanistan and foreign intelligence agencies, including the CIA and Mossad.
Iranian officials have used Rigi's confessions as evidence of US support for terrorist organisations and of plots by Iran's enemies to fuel sectarian violence in Iran and destabilise the country.
"Rigi's terrorist group was supported by secret services of the US, Britain and some other countries," Iran's intelligence minister, Haydar Moslehi, said after the militant leader's arrest. He alleged that the United States and a European country that he did not name had asked Rigi to launch terrorist operations against Iran.
Rigi, a member of the Balochi Rigi tribe, founded Jundullah in 2003 in the religiously and ethnically divided Sistan and Baluchistan province of Iran "to defend the rights of the Baluchi people and improve their conditions" and "to fight for the rights of the Sunni Muslims in Iran", according to Jundullah's official website.
His bother, Abdolhamid, was hanged after a conviction on similar charges on May 24 in the city of Zahedan in the presence of the families of the victims of Jundullah attacks.
According to Abdolmalek Rigi's taped confessions, he had been on his way to Bishkek to meet "a high-ranking" official at the Manas US military base in Kyrgyzstan to discuss attacks on Iranian territory when he was captured by Iranian security forces. He said he had met Americans at a US military base in Afghanistan 24 hours prior to his arrest.
Rigi said in the taped confession that he had been approached by US agents in Quetta, Pakistan in 2008 and that they had promised to provide his group with arms as well as an operation base in Afghanistan near the Iranian border.
"They promised to help us and cooperate with us, free our prisoners and give us military equipment, bombs, machine guns and a base" in return for launching attacks on Iran, challenging Iran's power in the region and causing problems for the Islamic state, he said on the tape.
Rigi said the promises were repeated by US agents in Dubai in meetings with one of his friends.
The United States has denied Rigi's allegations.
Jundullah had taken responsibility for a bomb blast in May 2009 in a mosque in the city of Zahedan in Sistan and Baluchistan province that killed 25 people as well as a suicide car bombing last October that killed 40, including several senior Revolutionary Guards commanders, during a gathering of Shia and Sunni tribal leaders near the town of Sarbaz in the same province.
Iranian officials have on various occasions claimed the existence of a link between Rigi's Jundullah and al Qa'eda.
In confessions aired by state-run television, Abdolhamid Rigi, who was captured in Pakistan and extradited to Iran in 2009, alleged that his brother had ties to al Qa'eda and had been questioned about that affiliation by his US contacts in Pakistan.
Abdolhamid Rigi also claimed that his brother met CIA and FBI agents in Islamabad and Karachi and received $100,000 (Dh367,289) to fuel sectarian violence in Iran.
@Email:msinaiee@thenational.ae
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Civil%20War
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The biog
Favourite pet: cats. She has two: Eva and Bito
Favourite city: Cape Town, South Africa
Hobby: Running. "I like to think I’m artsy but I’m not".
Favourite move: Romantic comedies, specifically Return to me. "I cry every time".
Favourite spot in Abu Dhabi: Saadiyat beach
Veil (Object Lessons)
Rafia Zakaria
Bloomsbury Academic
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
1,000 Books to Read Before You Die: A Life-Changing List
James Mustich, Workman
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
ACC%20T20%20Women%E2%80%99s%20Championship
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Tips on buying property during a pandemic
Islay Robinson, group chief executive of mortgage broker Enness Global, offers his advice on buying property in today's market.
While many have been quick to call a market collapse, this simply isn’t what we’re seeing on the ground. Many pockets of the global property market, including London and the UAE, continue to be compelling locations to invest in real estate.
While an air of uncertainty remains, the outlook is far better than anyone could have predicted. However, it is still important to consider the wider threat posed by Covid-19 when buying bricks and mortar.
Anything with outside space, gardens and private entrances is a must and these property features will see your investment keep its value should the pandemic drag on. In contrast, flats and particularly high-rise developments are falling in popularity and investors should avoid them at all costs.
Attractive investment property can be hard to find amid strong demand and heightened buyer activity. When you do find one, be prepared to move hard and fast to secure it. If you have your finances in order, this shouldn’t be an issue.
Lenders continue to lend and rates remain at an all-time low, so utilise this. There is no point in tying up cash when you can keep this liquidity to maximise other opportunities.
Keep your head and, as always when investing, take the long-term view. External factors such as coronavirus or Brexit will present challenges in the short-term, but the long-term outlook remains strong.
Finally, keep an eye on your currency. Whenever currency fluctuations favour foreign buyers, you can bet that demand will increase, as they act to secure what is essentially a discounted property.
Tottenham's 10 biggest transfers (according to transfermarkt.com):
1). Moussa Sissokho - Newcastle United - £30 million (Dh143m): Flop
2). Roberto Soldado - Valencia - £25m: Flop
3). Erik Lamela - Roma - £25m: Jury still out
4). Son Heung-min - Bayer Leverkusen - £25m: Success
5). Darren Bent - Charlton Athletic - £21m: Flop
6). Vincent Janssen - AZ Alkmaar - £18m: Flop
7). David Bentley - Blackburn Rovers - £18m: Flop
8). Luka Modric - Dynamo Zagreb - £17m: Success
9). Paulinho - Corinthians - £16m: Flop
10). Mousa Dembele - Fulham - £16m: Success
The specs
Engine: 2.2-litre, turbodiesel
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Power: 160hp
Torque: 385Nm
Price: Dh116,900
On sale: now
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20M3%20MACBOOK%20AIR%20(13%22)
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The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)