Iranian Speaker blames Algerian government for massacres

Iranian parliament Speaker Ali Akbar Nateq-Nuri has accused the Algerian government of being behind the massacres in the country.

Quoted by Iranian radio, Nateq-Nuri told the Majlis on Sunday that the Algerian government was "obscenely slaughtering Muslims" with the aid of the West.

"The Algerian government, assisted by direct intervention by the Westerners - who cannot tolerate the Muslims' victory - obscenely and shamelessly slaughters Muslims by embarking on inhuman acts.

"An unidentified armed group attacks a village, beheads more than 400 people and martyrs a group under torture.

Evidence shows that it is the government that has armed the group and set them against Muslims," he said, quoted by the radio.

Nateq-Nuri also attacked the double standards of the West in its approach to human rights in Iran and Algeria.

He also told the Majlis that the Algerian government placed the blame for the massacres on Islamic extremists.

Quoted by Iranian radio, he said: "While defenceless Muslims, especially women and children, in rural areas and some cities are being massacred, the Algerian government claims that these atrocities are being carried out by extremist Muslims.

"The atrocities against Muslims speak of the deep influence and power of the Islamic movement in Algeria.

Such behaviour does not merely stem from a domestic decision by the Algerian government.

On the contrary, they have come to this conclusion - with the participation and intervention of the Westerners - that they should not allow at any cost the Islamic movement in Algeria to gain strength." Nateq-Nuri went on: "Where their interests are threatened, the West and global arrogance raised the issue of human rights.

However, where their interest are being met, human rights are never violated." He said the West pointed to women not being given equal rights in Iran, while ignoring the killing of defenceless Muslim women and children in Algeria.

"This indicates that ... human rights for the Westerners is dependent on their interests being safeguarded."

BBC Monitoring (http://www.monitor.bbc.co.uk), based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.