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June 07, 1980 - Image 7

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Publication:
Michigan Daily, 1980-06-07

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The Michigan Daily-Saturday, June 7, 1980-Page 7
FACTIONS FIGHT OVER CLARK VISIT, SPY TRIALS
Iranian feuding intensifies

From APandUPI
The feuding among Iran's
revolutionary factions broke into the
open again yesterday in disputes over
Ramsey Clark's private mission to
Tehran and over the issue of spy trials
for the American hostages.
Tehran radio, which has often
angered some Iranian officials with its
editorial sniping, demanded to know
why Sadegh Ghotbzadeh's Foreign
Ministry allowed former U.S. Attorney
General Clark, "the vilest American
agent," to take part in this week's
"Crimes of America" conference in the
Iranian capital.
IT ACCUSED the ministry of being
conciliatory toward the United States.
Later yesterday, Ghotbzadeh, taking
a stand that could bring him into con-
flict with many of Iran's powerful
Moslem clergymen-politicians,
dismissed the idea of hostage trials as
unwise and not under serious con-
sideration.
The 53 hostages end their 31st week in
captivity today.
Clark headed a group of 10
Americans that attended the four-day
Tehran conference without U.S. gover-
nment approval and in violation of
President Carter's ban on American
travel to Iran. Each could face 10 years'
imprisonment and a $50,000 fine.
IN WASHINGTON yesterday, Sen.
Robert Dole (R-Kan.), introduced a
Doctors
find Ferris
student
able to
stand trial
YPSILANTI (UPI) - Psychologists
at the State Forensic Center said
yesterday a Ferris State College
student who shot his professor to death
in his classroom is competent to stand
trial.
Thomasa Kakonis, 20, who lapsed into
a near catatonic state following the
March 26 shooting of accountancy
professor Robert Brauer, twice
previously had been declared incom-
petent to stand trial.
KAKONIS, the- son of an education
professor at Ferris State, was sent to a
psychiatric hospital in Grand Rapids
following the shooting and later tran-
sferred to the State Forensic Center in
Ypsilanti.
The accounting student, who had
received a failing grade from Brauer
the day before, walked into the
classroom and shot the professor in
front of 30 horrified students. Brauer,
34, died a short time later.
Mecosta County Circuit Judge
Lawrence Root received a written
report from the psychologists yester-
day and ordered a competency hearing
for Kakonis next Tuesday in Big
Rapids.
County Prosecutor Charles Woodruff
said he didn't know if Kakonis would be
present at the hearing.

Senate resolution calling for
prosecution of the Clark group to the
fullest extent of the law. Dole called
their actions a "flagrant breach of
loyalty."
Most of the. group are scheduled to
return this weekend. Clark said he
would remain in Iran until Sunday..
During the conference, which ended
Thursday with a resolution denouncing
the past U.S. role in Iran, Clark agreed
to Iranian President Abolhassan Bani-
Sadr's request that he initiate an
inquiry in the United States into gover-
nment documents showing alleged U.S.
interference in Iran during the shah's
reign.
AS PART OF a possible solution to
the hostage crisis, Bani-Sadr and Ghot-
bzadeh have repeatedly called for some
kind of American adjnission or apology
about past activities in Iran.
Clark denounced America's role in
Iran, but he also told the conference
participants - non-governmental
delegations from some 50 countries -
that Iran's hostage-taking was wrong,
and he sought unsuccessfully to have
the issue included in the final

resolution.f
The Tehran radio commentary noted
that revolutionary leader Ayatollah
Ruhollah Khomeini had refused to
allow Clark to enter Iran last Novem-
ber, when Carter sent the activist
lawyer to the Middle East to try to
negotiate an end to the hostage-holding.
THE RADIO asked why the Foreign
Ministry allowed Clark to take part in
the conference when its purpose was to
consider the actions of just such people
- current and former U.S. officials.
Clark was attorney general in the late
1960s under President Lyndon Johnson.
"We hope this clear departure from
(Khomeini's) guidelines which resulted
in the participation of the vilest
American agent ... will be explained
to the people by the officials," the
commentary said.
It said the ministry's "conciliatory
attitude" toward the United States also
required explanation.
Ghotbzadeh later defended Clark at a
news conference. He said the broadcast
commentary was unfair to Clark and
said "the radio has gone into the hands
of the wrong people."

Ghotbzadeh said Clark was barred
from Iran last November because he
had been sent by Carter. On this trip,
however, Clark was completely on his
own, he said.
Tehran radio currently is under the
direction of supporters of the Islamic
Republican Party, which is led by con-
servative clergymen who have taken a
tough anti-U.S. stand in the hostage,
crisis.
Many of the clergymen who are
members of the new Iranian
Parliament, which must decide the
hostages' fate, support the idea of put-
ting the hostages on trial as alleged
spies if the exiled Shah Mohammad
Reza Pahlavi-is not returned to Iran.
Carter last Sunday warned Iran anew
that the United States would take "very
severe" action if the American
diolomats were Dut on trial.

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