TEHRAN // Iran hanged the Sunni militant leader Abdolmalek Rigi in Evin prison yesterday for "taking up arms against the Islamic state and corruption on earth" after his appeal against his death sentence was turned down by the country's chief justice.
According to a statement on the website of the Public and Revolutionary Court, Rigi had pleaded guilty to all 79 charges against him, including armed attack and robbery, bombing, kidnapping and murder and connections with foreign secret services, including "intelligence officers of the US and Israel working under the cover of Nato and certain Arab countries" as well as "anti-revolutionary expatriate groups such as the MKO", the People's Mujahedin of Iran.
During his trial, the rebel leader "requested the victims' families' forgiveness" and asked the members of his organisation "not to repeat his mistakes", the statement said.
The 26-year-old leader of the Pakistan-based Jundullah, also known as the People's Resistance Movement of Iran, was arrested by Iranian security forces on February 23 when his flight from Dubai to Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan was forced to land in Bandar Abbas in southern Iran by Iranian fighter jets, and searched by security forces.
Rigi, whose organisation ambushed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidential motorcade in 2005 during his visit to Sistan and Baluchistan province and killed one of his bodyguards, was shown on Iran's state-run Press TV two days after his arrest confessing to his links to Nato officials in Afghanistan and foreign intelligence agencies, including the CIA and Mossad.
Iranian officials have used Rigi's confessions as evidence of US support for terrorist organisations and of plots by Iran's enemies to fuel sectarian violence in Iran and destabilise the country.
"Rigi's terrorist group was supported by secret services of the US, Britain and some other countries," Iran's intelligence minister, Haydar Moslehi, said after the militant leader's arrest. He alleged that the United States and a European country that he did not name had asked Rigi to launch terrorist operations against Iran.
Rigi, a member of the Balochi Rigi tribe, founded Jundullah in 2003 in the religiously and ethnically divided Sistan and Baluchistan province of Iran "to defend the rights of the Baluchi people and improve their conditions" and "to fight for the rights of the Sunni Muslims in Iran", according to Jundullah's official website.
His bother, Abdolhamid, was hanged after a conviction on similar charges on May 24 in the city of Zahedan in the presence of the families of the victims of Jundullah attacks.
According to Abdolmalek Rigi's taped confessions, he had been on his way to Bishkek to meet "a high-ranking" official at the Manas US military base in Kyrgyzstan to discuss attacks on Iranian territory when he was captured by Iranian security forces. He said he had met Americans at a US military base in Afghanistan 24 hours prior to his arrest.
Rigi said in the taped confession that he had been approached by US agents in Quetta, Pakistan in 2008 and that they had promised to provide his group with arms as well as an operation base in Afghanistan near the Iranian border.
"They promised to help us and cooperate with us, free our prisoners and give us military equipment, bombs, machine guns and a base" in return for launching attacks on Iran, challenging Iran's power in the region and causing problems for the Islamic state, he said on the tape.
Rigi said the promises were repeated by US agents in Dubai in meetings with one of his friends.
The United States has denied Rigi's allegations.
Jundullah had taken responsibility for a bomb blast in May 2009 in a mosque in the city of Zahedan in Sistan and Baluchistan province that killed 25 people as well as a suicide car bombing last October that killed 40, including several senior Revolutionary Guards commanders, during a gathering of Shia and Sunni tribal leaders near the town of Sarbaz in the same province.
Iranian officials have on various occasions claimed the existence of a link between Rigi's Jundullah and al Qa'eda.
In confessions aired by state-run television, Abdolhamid Rigi, who was captured in Pakistan and extradited to Iran in 2009, alleged that his brother had ties to al Qa'eda and had been questioned about that affiliation by his US contacts in Pakistan.
Abdolhamid Rigi also claimed that his brother met CIA and FBI agents in Islamabad and Karachi and received $100,000 (Dh367,289) to fuel sectarian violence in Iran.
@Email:msinaiee@thenational.ae
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champioons League semi-final:
First leg: Liverpool 5 Roma 2
Second leg: Wednesday, May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
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If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
How being social media savvy can improve your well being
Next time when procastinating online remember that you can save thousands on paying for a personal trainer and a gym membership simply by watching YouTube videos and keeping up with the latest health tips and trends.
As social media apps are becoming more and more consumed by health experts and nutritionists who are using it to awareness and encourage patients to engage in physical activity.
Elizabeth Watson, a personal trainer from Stay Fit gym in Abu Dhabi suggests that “individuals can use social media as a means of keeping fit, there are a lot of great exercises you can do and train from experts at home just by watching videos on YouTube”.
Norlyn Torrena, a clinical nutritionist from Burjeel Hospital advises her clients to be more technologically active “most of my clients are so engaged with their phones that I advise them to download applications that offer health related services”.
Torrena said that “most people believe that dieting and keeping fit is boring”.
However, by using social media apps keeping fit means that people are “modern and are kept up to date with the latest heath tips and trends”.
“It can be a guide to a healthy lifestyle and exercise if used in the correct way, so I really encourage my clients to download health applications” said Mrs Torrena.
People can also connect with each other and exchange “tips and notes, it’s extremely healthy and fun”.
LA LIGA FIXTURES
Friday Valladolid v Osasuna (Kick-off midnight UAE)
Saturday Valencia v Athletic Bilbao (5pm), Getafe v Sevilla (7.15pm), Huesca v Alaves (9.30pm), Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid (midnight)
Sunday Real Sociedad v Eibar (5pm), Real Betis v Villarreal (7.15pm), Elche v Granada (9.30pm), Barcelona v Levante (midnight)
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Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
Travel distance: Limited
Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
Duration: Can linger for days
Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
Source: Can be carried from distant regions
Jewel of the Expo 2020
252 projectors installed on Al Wasl dome
13.6km of steel used in the structure that makes it equal in length to 16 Burj Khalifas
550 tonnes of moulded steel were raised last year to cap the dome
724,000 cubic metres is the space it encloses
Stands taller than the leaning tower of Pisa
Steel trellis dome is one of the largest single structures on site
The size of 16 tennis courts and weighs as much as 500 elephants
Al Wasl means connection in Arabic
World’s largest 360-degree projection surface
Global institutions: BlackRock and KKR
US-based BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager, with $5.98 trillion of assets under management as of the end of last year. The New York firm run by Larry Fink provides investment management services to institutional clients and retail investors including governments, sovereign wealth funds, corporations, banks and charitable foundations around the world, through a variety of investment vehicles.
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What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
George Sainsbury of the supermarket dynasty, sugar magnate William Park Lyle and actress Dame Gracie Fields were residents in the 1930s when the street was only known as ‘Millionaires’ Row’.
Then came the international super rich, including the last king of Greece, Constantine II, the Sultan of Brunei and Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal who was at one point ranked the third richest person in the world.
Turkish tycoon Halis Torprak sold his mansion for £50m in 2008 after spending just two days there. The House of Saud sold 10 properties on the road in 2013 for almost £80m.
Other residents have included Iraqi businessman Nemir Kirdar, singer Ariana Grande, holiday camp impresario Sir Billy Butlin, businessman Asil Nadir, Paul McCartney’s former wife Heather Mills.
Hunting park to luxury living
Land was originally the Bishop of London's hunting park, hence the name
The road was laid out in the mid 19th Century, meandering through woodland and farmland
Its earliest houses at the turn of the 20th Century were substantial detached properties with extensive grounds
Scoreline
Switzerland 5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
