Nov. 9, 1998

William J. Clinton

The White House

Washington, DC

Dear Mr. President,

We are concerned by reports that the Republic of France hasimprisoned a member of an Iranian opposition group, on chargesrelating to his political activities.

The Iranian activist, Mr. Ahmad Fahimi (a/k/a/ Khosrow), wasapprehended in Paris on September 18, 1998 by the Frenchcounter-intelligence service (DST), and was held incommunicado untilOctober 6. He has been on hunger strike since his arrest. His life isnow in danger.

As Mr. Fahimi enjoys political refugee status, this is a clearviolation of France's commitment to the International Covenant onHuman and Political Rights. We urge you to intervene vigorously withthe French authorities to seek Mr. Fahimi's immediate release.

Background

Mr. Fahimi is the French representative of the Organization of theIranian People's Fedayeen Guerrillas, a left-wing group which hasrenounced the use of violence and opposes the Tehran regime throughpolitical means. Several years ago the group infiltrated an Iraniangovernment bank in Paris, and published documents from the bank'sarchives which exposed the embarrassing extent ofgovernment-to-government cooperation between Paris and Tehran,including French arms sales to Iran. It is our understanding that theGovernment of France acted on a request from the Tehran authoritiesto arrest Mr. Fahimi, following the official visit to Iran by FrenchForeign Minister Hubert Védrine this August.

The Foundation has sent official inquiries to the Government ofFrance seeking to know what charges have been levied against Mr.Fahimi. Until now, these inquiries have remained without reply. Whilewe expect that the French government will attempt to prosecute Mr.Fahimi for common criminal offenses, the fact that no charges haveyet been announced is an indication of the French government's badfaith, which the Foundation deplores.

Your administration has been central to maintaining pressure onthe government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to prevent itssponsorship of international terrorism and its development of weaponsof mass destruction. While you welcomed the election of Hojjat-oleslam Mohammad Khatami last year - as we did - President Khatami hasso far failed to deliver on his promises to reform the radicalclerical system in Iran, and recently condemned the Wye Riveragreement between Israel and the Palestinians. Under thesecircumstances, we feel it would be imprudent and premature toconsider opening a substantive dialogue with Tehran, and encourageyou to stand firm in your current policy.

Given the total refusal of the French authorities to respond toqueries from NGOs or to grant Mr. Fahimi due process of law, werequest, Mr. President, that you instruct the Department of State toofficially inquire into his status, and to demand his immediaterelease.

We also encourage you to instruct the appropriate administrationofficials to maintain pressure on the Islamic Republic ininternational fora for their failure to respectinternationally-recognized standards of human rights and democraticfreedoms.

Sincerely yours,

Kenneth R. Timmerman

Executive Director

Foundation for Democracy in Iran

The Foundation for Democracy in Iran is a private, non-profitcorporation registered in the State of Maryland. Contact: Kenneth R.Timmerman, Executive Director. Tel: (301) 946-2918. Fax: (301)942-5341. FDI materials, including the FDI Newswire, are availablefree-of-charge via the Internet at http://www.iran.org