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Iranian Kurdish Dissident Shot Dead in Iraqi Kurdistan

by Michael Lipin

   Iraqi Kurdish media said an Iranian Kurdish dissident has been found
   shot dead in northeastern Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region.

   In a report published Wednesday, Irbil-based news agency Rudaw quoted
   the mayor of Penjwen as saying Iqbal Muradi's body was found on the
   outskirts of town with several bullet wounds.

   The Roj News site based in Sulaymaniyah said Muradi's body was found
   late Tuesday near a river that runs by Penjwen. Muradi, a member of the
   Association for Human Rights in Kurdistan of Iran (KMMK), had been
   living in exile in the Iraqi Kurdish town. He had survived an earlier
   attempt on his life in Penjwen in 2008.

   Roj News [1]posted a photo of what it said was Muradi's coffin and said
   residents of Penjwen held a funeral for him on Wednesday. The
   Amsterdam-based Kurdish Firat News Agency (ANF) [2]published a photo of
   the coffin being carried in a funeral procession.

   KMMK issued a [3]statement condemning what it called Muradi's
   assassination. It urged Iraqi Kurdish authorities to quickly identify
   and prosecute the perpetrators, saying it suspects they were Iranian
   agents. Tehran long has cracked down on Iranian Kurdish dissidents and
   separatists active in the predominantly ethnic Kurdish northwest region
   of the country.

   Iranian state media had no immediate comment on reports of Muradi's
   killing.

   Two of Muradi's family members -- his son Zanyar Muradi and nephew
   Luqman Muradi -- have been jailed in Iran and sentenced to death for
   their Kurdish political activism.

   Iraqi Kurdish media said several Iranian Kurdish dissidents have been
   targeted and killed in Iraqi Kurdistan in recent years in attacks
   blamed on Iran.

   This report was produced in collaboration with [4]VOA's Persian
   Service.

   Michael covers international news for VOA on the web, radio and TV,
   specializing in the Middle East and East Asia Pacific. Follow him on
   Twitter [5]@Michael_Lipin

References

   1. http://bit.ly/2L48p5T
   2. https://anfenglishmobile.com/kurdistan/kurdish-human-rights-activist-tortured-and-executed-28340
   3. http://www.kmmk.info/fa/13518
   4. https://ir.voanews.com/
   5. https://twitter.com/Michael_Lipin