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Thu 06 Jun 2009Would Mousavi really have made a difference?
The popularity of Ahmadinejad’s rival might have more to do with wishful thinking, writes MARY FITZGERALD, Foreign Affairs Correspondent, in Iran
THE QUESTION of what kind of president Mir Hussein Mousavi, whose supporters believe won last Friday’s disputed election in Iran, would make is an intriguing one. Contrary to the perceptions of some in the West, buoyed by media images of Mousavi’s exuberant, youth-driven campaign, the man who last week presented the strongest challenge to president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s bid for re-election is no anti-establishment liberal intent on dismantling the structures of the Islamic Republic. Neither is he an Iranian Vaclav Havel about to guide his country towards a “velvet revolution”.
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