NY Post: Iran's Politcal Quake

[GRClarkesq]

By AMIR TAHERI

December 30, 2003 -- IT may take months before we know the exact number of people who died during the recent earthquake in Bam, south-eastern Iran.
The authorities have cited the figure of 30,000 dead and more than 50,000 injured. Local sources, however, speak of double those numbers.

It would take weeks before all the affected small towns and villages, numbering in hundreds, are reached. The hasty burial of corpses in mass graves renders any exact estimates that much more difficult. Also, thousands of people who have lost their homes are already leaving the region in search of temporary or permanent refuge elsewhere in the province.

One thing is certain: The earthquake has dealt a serious blow to the dwindling fortunes of the so-called pro-reform coalition led by President Muhammad Khatami. The anger it has provoked throughout the country is unlikely to ebb soon.

http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/14726.htm

Not recommending the author or the source, but I had not seen these issues discussed elsewhere.