position:religious leader

Iraqis, Azerbaijani, Ukrainian Movement Among Sakharov Prize Nominees
▻http://www.rferl.org/content/sakharov-prize-iraqi-azerbaijani-yunus-euromaidan-nominees/26595475.html

A law professor and a Christian religious leader in Iraq, an Azerbaijani rights defender, and Ukraine’s pro-Western Euromaidan movement are among the nominees for the European Parliament’s 2014 Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought.

The two Iraqi nominees — Mahmud Al ’Asali and the Chaldean Catholic Patriarch of Babylon, Louis Raphael Sako — have both spoken out against anti-Christian persecution in Iraq. Asali was killed in July.

Azerbaijani human rights activist Leyla Yunus, who has been involved in people-to-people diplomacy with Armenian rights activists, is currently in pretrial detention on high treason charges. 

The Euromaidan movement derived from a wave of pro-EU demonstrations across Ukraine that led to President Viktor Yanukovych’s ouster in February.

Two European Parliament committees will shortlist three finalists next month.

The 50,000 euro ($64,200) Sakharov Prize is awarded annually to honor defenders of human rights and freedom of expression.

Iran Recruiting Afghan Refugees to Fight for Regime in Syria
►http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304908304579564161508613846

Iran has been recruiting thousands of Afghan refugees to fight in Syria, offering $500 a month and Iranian residency to help the Assad regime beat back rebel forces, according to Afghans and Western officials.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, recruits and trains Shiite militias to fight in Syria. Details of their recruitment efforts were posted this week on a blog focused on Afghan refugees in Iran and confirmed by the office of Grand Ayatollah Mohaghegh Kabuli, an Afghan religious leader in the Iranian holy city of Qom. A member of the IRGC also confirmed the details.

“They [IRGC] find a connection to the refugee community and work on convincing our youth to go and fight in Syria,” said the office administrator of Ayatollah Kabuli, reached by telephone in Qom. “They give them everything from salary to residency.” Iran is offering the refugees school registration for their children and charity cards in addition to the $500 stipend and residency.

(Je référence parce que l’info sur les réfugiés afghans est intéressante – à vérifier –, et parce que l’article commence à être repris. Mais d’un autre côté, il y a des enchaînements logiques et des jugements moraux introduits dans l’article, qui me semblent très légers.)