Deputy leader killed as Nigerian military raids Islamic sect

Nigeria’s military has claimed it raided the compound of a fundamentalist Islamic sect and killed one of its top leaders, as the battle intensified between government troops and Islamist forces in the country’s north Thursday. At least 400 rebels, civilians and troops have died since the fighting began Sunday, triggered by the arrest of some members of the sect, known as Boko Haram.

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Fights with police at Iranian refugee camp leave 7 dead

Seven members of an exiled Iranian opposition group have been killed in clashes with Iraqi police at a refugee camp over the past two days, authorities said Wednesday. Security forces attempted to establish security control at Camp Ashraf in Iraq’s Diyala province Tuesday and continued Wednesday to square off with members of the People’s Mujahedeen Organization of Iran

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Iran reportedly frees 140 jailed election protesters

The Iranian government has released 140 people arrested in the aftermath of the Islamic republic’s disputed presidential election, a semi-official news agency reported Tuesday. Kazem Jalali, spokesman for the parliament’s national security and foreign policy commission, said the detainees posted bail and were freed from northern Tehran’s Evin Prison during an inspection of the prison by a task force made up of commission members, the Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA) reported.

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Report: Moussavi’s brother-in-law detained

The wife of Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi spoke publicly about her brother’s detention for the first time Thursday, accusing the Islamic government of fueling false allegations about him, according to media report. Zahra Rahnavard told the semi-official Iranian Labour News Agency that her brother, Shahpour Kazemi, 62, was arrested a month ago

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Report: Iran opposition candidate blasts ‘clear lies’

An opposition candidate in Iran’s disputed presidential election blasted what he called the "thoughtless and clear lies" of the country’s security forces Sunday, while students mounted new demonstrations at a university in Shiraz. Former parliament speaker Mehdi Karrubi, who ran last in the June 12 election, compared government claims that it had not attacked his supporters to the statements that came out of the Iranian monarchy in the days before the 1979 revolution that established the Islamic republic, according to Iran’s Aftab news agency.

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Rafsanjani set to deliver pivotal sermon

The brother of powerful Iranian cleric Ali Akbar Hasehemi Rafsanjani hailed the latter’s upcoming Friday sermon as one that Iranians have highly anticipated and said that a "great turnout" is expected. Rafsanjani, a former president and normally a frequent speaker at the prayer service on Islam’s holy day, has not appeared at the weekly sermon since the disputed June 12 presidential vote, according to the semi-official Iranian Labor News Agency.

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