posted February 07, 2001 12:47               

Text of report from "What else is new?" column, entitled: "Ezzatollah Sahabi's daughter writes to Mandela" published by Iranian newspaper Iran web site on 6 February

We have received a report indicating that Ezzatollah Sahabi's daughter, Haleh, has written a letter to Nelson Mandela, appealing to him to help her father with his problems and to offer compassionate assistance with some of the current authority approach in Iran.

Haleh Sahabi, in her letter, says: "I am talking of Ezzatollah Sahabi, who the same as you has tolerated many years of imprisonment, and therefore appreciates the value of freedom very well. He has paid such a price for his country's honour that he has the right to be concerned about its future. His senior years [75 year old] and grey hair have given him the status to be more realistic than being swayed towards minor and transitional matters. Thanks to his poor physical health and heart conditions, he is not so certain of surviving much longer. He, therefore, cannot be lured by the appeal of fame and position of authority."

The letter describes Nelson Mandela as a peace-loving struggler and an independent philanthropist, and adds: "My father's friends too, in the ranks of reformers and critics, were raising the same problems of shortcomings in their written work, newspaper articles, university lecturers and even among the esteemed religious figures. All of them are now trapped in state prisons. And you, the dear friend and experienced traveller with global outlook, know better than us that these imprisoned individuals deserve to be kept as advisors and consultants."

Ezzatollah Sahabi's daughter, in her letter, says: "Mr Mandela! I hope you would not think that I am writing this letter to you to ask you to abandon all your own problems and resolve our difficulties. I realize that you are surrounded with a mountain of problems in your own country.