Iran court begins serial murders trial

TEHERAN, DEC. 23.An Iranian military court today began a closed- door trial of 17 men, among them secret police agents, accused of the 1998 serial murders of dissidents that shocked the public and embittered rival political factions.

A court official said the first hearing in the case would be held behind closed doors.

``The court will decide whether further hearings will also be closed to the public,'' the official told reporters outside the courtroom.

The sensitivity of the case had led many analysts to predict the court sessions would be held in camera .

The court was to hear charges that the 17, including `rogue agents' inside the Intelligence Ministry, were behind a string of mystery killings, which terrified Opposition activists and unnerved Iranians.

The judiciary has threatened to prosecute anyone making `unauthorised' revelations in the case.

Nationalist politicians Dariush and Parvaneh Forouhar were knifed to death in their home in late 1998. Writers Mohammad Mokhtar and Mohammad Jafar Pouyandeh were also killed.

Majid Sharif was found dead and another intellectual Pirouz Davani, disappeared at the time. Relatives include both men among the victims.

The secret police said in January 1999 that its own agents were involved in what it called the `hateful murders'. One month later, the Intelligence Minister, Qorbanali Dorri Najafabadi, resigned.

Reformist forces around the President, Mr. Mohammad Khatami, seized on the affair to demand a complete overhaul of the Ministry, which some sought to implicate in similar murders dating back 10 years.

They say the rogue agents were pawns in the hands of senior members of the clerical establishment. Two reformist journalists have singled out two former intelligence chiefs and a powerful judicial figure - both clerics - as key players in the scandal. All three have denied the allegations.

- Reuters

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