Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi - April 10, 2002

Mr. Hossein Marashi [the representative of Kerman] came. He spoke of the government's misperformance with all the oil, water, land, and suitable air, and the talent for attracting tourists, and the deplorable situation.

Full text of the diary:

I went to the center of that institution to inaugurate the meeting of the Housing Foundation. Mr. [Mohammad] Saeedi Kia, [head of the Islamic Revolution Housing Foundation], reported. I also explained the goals of the foundation and its role.  Many of the Friday prayer leaders of the provinces, who are members of the council as the representative of the Supreme Leader in the province, were present at the meeting. We also held talks with Mr. [Seyyed Hashem] Rasouli Mahallati, [the representative of the Supreme Leader in the Housing Foundation], and Engineer [Ali] Abdolalizadeh, [Minister of Housing and Urban Development].  

A group of students from Sharif University [and those involved in the first international competition for intelligent robots at Amirkabir University of Technology] came. They consulted and asked for help for the robot design and construction competition, which will involve about 100 teams, some of whom are from foreign countries. I did the office work until night.  

Mr. Hossein Marashi [the representative of Kerman] came. He spoke of the government's misperformance with all the oil, water, land, and suitable air, and the talent for attracting tourists, and the deplorable situation. He said that the leaders of the left wing wanted the demonstrations against Israel to be without a picture of the Supreme Leader and only for themselves, and without the slogan of "Death to America", but their plan was thwarted with the participation of the right wing.  

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict continues. A number of people were killed and wounded on both sides. 200 Palestinians and Christian clergy have taken refuge in the Church of the Nativity, the birthplace of Jesus, [located in the Old City of Bethlehem], and the Israeli army has surrounded them and demanded their surrender. A Muslim who was martyred was not allowed to take his body to the cemetery and was buried in the garden of the church.  

A group of Christians has formed an armed jihad group [called the "Cradle of Christ Movement"] against Israel and is cooperating with the Palestinian jihad, the Al-Aqsa Battalion. In a martyrdom operation, a bus carrying Israeli soldiers was blown up between Haifa and Nablus, killing 18 people and wounding many others, including the commander of the Al-Aqsa Battalion. There is also a conflict between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah, and two Israeli outposts in Shebaa have been captured by Hezbollah.

A statement has been issued by Al-Qaeda and has given statistics on the casualties of the Americans and said that they will have many operations in the future.