From: “Zainab Al-Suwaij” <zainab@aicongress.org>
Date: May 12, 2007 12:24:46 AM EDT
To: “Zainab Al-Suwaij” <zainab@aicongress.org>
Subject: Dr.Haleh Esfandiri’s Campaign

Dear Friends:

As many of you know, Dr. Haleh Esfandiari was arrested on Tuesday in Tehran and is currently being held in Evin Prison. I am writing to you to ask you to join our campaign to free Haleh.

First, here is some basic background on what happened:

Haleh goes to Iran twice a year to visit her mother, who is now 93. Her latest trip was in December.

According to the Wilson Center, on December 30, 2006, Haleh was in Iran heading to the airport to return to the US. Masked gunmen ambushed her taxi and stole her luggage, including her Iranian and American passports. When Haleh went to replace her passport, she was interrogated at the Intelligence Ministry. For four months she was held under house arrest. On May 8, security forces took her away to Evin Prison where she remains today, though she has not been formally charged with any crime.

The “Free Haleh” campaign has been initiated by the American Islamic Congress in conjunction with Ibn Khaldoun Center in Cairo, the Initiative for Inclusive Security in Washington, and the Kuwaiti Economic Society.

Our appeal is to the Iranian government: Please correct the mistake made by the security forces and release Haleh.

You can read all about Haleh’s case and our campaign at the site www.FreeHaleh.org. We will continue to post updates to the site.

More importantly, we have set up a special online letter writing campaign on Haleh’s behalf. Go to: http://campaigns.aicongress.org/haleh. You can edit a draft letter to Iranian leaders. Then sign your name and submit the letter. An email will be sent, and your name will be added to a list of people taking action. It’s a combined petition/letter-writing campaign.

You can also spread the word to your friends and colleagues. You can either forward this email or use this form: http://campaigns.aicongress.org/haleh/forward .

Thank you for your attention and for adding your voice. Haleh has done so much for us and now we need to step up to help her.

Ma’asalama,

Zainab

–
Ms. Zainab Al-Suwaij
Executive Director
American Islamic Congress
www.aicongress.org