EXTREMISTS ASSAIL EX PRESIDENT KHATAMI

Tehran, 18 Sept. - The ex-president of Iran, moderate Mohammad Khatami, was assaulted today in Tehran by a group of extremists loyal to the regime while he participated in the celebrations which take place every years for the Day of 'Quds', that is Jerusalem, as a sign of solidarity with the Palestinian cause. The official marches were also overlapped by un-official marches by the opposition, which quickly degenerated into chaos. The episode was reported on the pro-reform website 'ParlemenNews.ir', according to which Khatami was physically assaulted by assailants, who ''made his turban fall off'' and ''wanted to beat him''. The ex-president of Iran, in office from '97 to August 2005, was defended ''by his supporters'', who ''resisted'' the attackers. In the end riot police officers ''intervened''. In the capital of the Islamic Republic, tens of thousands of people took to the streets to protest over the results of the presidential elections on June 12, that confirmed the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but were criticised for corruption. The protestors shouted the name of the reformist Hossein Moussavi, the primary rival in the elections defeated by Ahmadinejad.