Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi - August 1, 2001 - Meeting with Sheikh Abdul Majid Ma'adikah and Mohsen Hashemi; Proposal to Create Dialogue with Elites and Concerns About Sheikh Mohammad Taqi Misbah Yazdi's Monologue

Meeting with Seyed Alireza Marandi and Mohammad Hossein Niknam, inviting Hashemi to open the seminar for Muslim doctors residing in America.

Full Text of the Daily Entry:

Dr. [Alireza] Marandi and Dr. [Mohammad Hossein] Niknam came. They requested that I inaugurate the gathering of Muslim doctors residing in America. Hundreds of Muslim doctors, mainly from Pakistan and Arab countries, along with some Iranians, have gathered for a biennial meeting in an Islamic country, and this time they have come to Iran with their families. The gathering lasts three days and focuses mainly on scientific issues.

Mr. [Abdul Majid] Ma'adikah, [the head of the Foundation for the History of the Revolution], accompanied by Mohsen, [the head of the Expediency Discernment Council's office], came. He pursued the suggestion of engaging in a dialogue with elites. His argument is that, today, individuals like Mr. [Mohammad Taqi] Misbah [Yazdi] effectively represent the revolution and the faction loyal to the system, and given their ideas and reasoning, opponents of the regime benefit greatly. It is essential to present logical thoughts of the revolution. I explained the challenges in terms of issues with information centers and media, as well as the narrow-mindedness of extremists in promoting Islamic thoughts.

This morning, Abdul Rahman Wahid, the President of Indonesia, after weeks of hesitation, declared a state of emergency and dissolved the parliament. However, the parliament, military, police, and the Supreme Court declared his decree illegal, and the parliament, supported by the police and military, convened; they dismissed Wahid and elected Mrs. Megawati Sukarnoputri, his deputy, as president. Legally, Sukarnoputri should have been elected, but religious scholars opposed her presidential candidacy. Wahid was at the head of the assembly of religious scholars.

In Italy, it was announced that during protests against the G8 summit, more than 500 people were injured, and damages amounted to 50 million dollars. It became clear that the leaders of the eight industrial countries had lost their spirit and decided to hold the next summit in a remote mountainous area in Canada. The climate conference in Bonn [Germany] also issued a unanimous resolution today reaffirming the Kyoto Protocol. The United States has withdrawn from the Kyoto environmental agreement, effectively rendering it useless since it alone produces greenhouse gases equivalent to that of dozens of countries.