The Michigan Daily-Thursday, Ju1n 4, 194l-Poge 7
BANI-SADR PITTED AGAINST CLERGY
Iran power feud escalates
TEHRAN (AP)-President Abolhassan Bani-
Sadr's political enemies are escalating a power
struggle in Iran, threatening to put him on trial, but
they seem to be shrinking from a climactic
showdown.
The president's foes-the fundamentalist
clergymen of the Islamic Republican Party-may
fear that supreme revolutionary leader Ayatollah
Ruhollah Knomeini will come down decisively on
Bani-Sadr's side, according to American students of
the Iranian scene.
THESE ANALYSTS are skeptical that the IRP
leaders would actually prosecute Bani-Sadr for
blocking their Cabinet choices.
"It's getting nastier," said Barry Rubin, an Iran
specialist at the Center for Strategic and Inter-
national Studies at Washington's Georgetown
University. But "as long as Ayatollah Khomeini is
alive, I'm convinced he will maintain the balance of
power."
Bani-Sadr and the fundamentalist clergymen have
been feuding for a year over the direction of the
Iranian revolution, the place of the clergy in gover-
nment, and more recently, the conduct of the war
against Iraq. The isolationist, conservative clerics
distrust the foreign-educated and left-leaning
technocrats and intellectuals Bani-Sadr represents.
ON MONDAY, the IRP representative on a three-
man commission set up to mediate disputes between
the two factions said the "majority" of the panel had
decided Bani-Sadr was "acting at variance with the
constitution" by rejecting Prime Minister Moham-
mad Ali Rajai's appointment of several Cabinet
ministers. The IRP supports Rajai and dominates
Parliament, which has ratified the appointments.
Bani-Sadr also was accused of violating
Khomeini's ban on provocative statements by top
political leaders. This apparently referred to Bani-
Sadr's written and verbal attacks on the IRP.
The commission was handing its evidence for the
findings over to Iran's prosecutor-general, the IRP
representative said-a clear threat to put Bani-Sadr
on trial.
BUT RICHARD Bulliet, a Columbia University
history professor and Middle East expert, believes
the IRP is more intent on pressuring Bani-Sadr than
on actually trying him.
The normal constitutional procedure for removing
the president would be by impeachment by
Parliament, a vote that must then be endorsed by
Khoneini, Bulliet said in an interview.
The IRP leaders probably worry Khomeini would
not back them, he said.
"IT WOULD BE a great fiasco for the IRP if they
got a vote of impeachment and them Khomeini
decided he was going to defend Bani-Sadr, which I
think is entirely likely," Bulliet said. Khomeini has
stepped in previously to protect Bani-Sadr from the
clergymen.
Nor can Rajai and his clergymen mentors count on
popular support if they move directly to oust the
president.
See POWER, Page 10
Tornadoes rip through
Denver; 40 injured
(Continued from Page 3).
part of neighboring Northglenn.
Thornton Fire Chief George Buck
said he brought between 30 and 40 people
to the hospital, ,most suffering from
cuts from glass and debris.
HE SAID DAMAGE was heaviest at a
commercial area in the western part of
the community. A roof was blown off
the D and V shopping center, there was
damage to a bank, and roofs were
blown off a restaurant and a convenien-
ce store, officials said. There also were
reports of houses leveled by the storm,
and cars could be seen lying on their
sides throughout the area.
Part of the area was sealed off
because of a broken natural gas line.
Residents elsewhere in Thornton repor-
ted golf ball-size hail.
THORNTON POLICE officer
Richard DiMeo said he was swamped
with calls from people trapped in
buildings and requesting assistance.
"It was just a swirling cloud," he
said. "We saw it moving toward the
Police Department. We moved
everybody into the basement." The
storm was accompanied by heavy rains
and strong winds as it pushed through
the area.
Most of the injured were taken to
Valley View Hospital in Thornton,
where officials said 31 people were
treated for cuts and bruises and
released.
NINE PEOPLE were admitted, but
their conditions were not known, a
hospital spokeswoman said. But Truby
said six people were seriously hurt, and
one teen-age girl reportedly was in
critical condition.
An ambulance driver said one of the
injured "was just knocked over by the
force of the wind. He was walking along
the street and it just bowled him over."
There was no immediate damage
estimate. The storm not only inflicted
damage on property, but caused scat-.
tered electrical blackouts and interrup-
ted telephone service, utility officials
said.
STREETS WERE flooded and creeks
overflowed after heavy rain and golf-
ball-size hail fell throughout the area,
police said.
Susan Geick, who was in the Thornton
area when the tornado struck, said,
"We looked out the window and saw a
tornado ripping the roof off the Alber-
tson's grocery store across the street.
"Then as I was walking down the
steps, this man yelled at me and I tur-
ned and saw the roof fly off the building
behind me. I just stood there crying and
screaming for a few minutes."
BESIDES THE tornado that hit
Thornton, tornadoes or funnel clouds
also were reported in Lakewood,
southwest Denver, southeast Denver,
northeast Denver, Northglenn, Plat-
teville, and Fort Lupton.
In southwest Denver, trees were
uprooted and roofs were torn off
houses. Juli Anderson, a resident, said
the tornado touched down in her neigh-
bor's yard, taking off the tops of trees.
Forged by a god.
Found by a King.
EXCAUBUR
1:30-4:15-
7:15-9:45
SQUEEZE PLAY
1:30-3:15-5:15-
7:30-9:15
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BLUES
BROTHERS
Ch..Ch Chong BI..U Br
1:15-5:30-9:45 3:007:15
SMiSM STAMo
UNIVER$AL PICTURE
SHOWTIMES 1:30 3:30
5:20,7:30, 9:30