THE WRITER Salman Rushdie wants the European Union to end its contacts with the Iranian government unless there is some movement towards lifting the death threat made against him almost eight years ago.
Speaking in Dublin yesterday, Mr Rushdie said he was "deeply unimpressed" with the continued EU policy of holding a "critical dialogue" with Iran. He suggested that these contacts with Iran continued because of trade concerns rather than any moral vision of Europe.
"In the end there is a decision to be made", Mr Rushdie said. "If Europe wants to say that halal beef and feta cheese are what it is about and we don't really mind if every now and again the Iranians bump off a novelist, then let Europe say that.
"But if Europe is in some sense committed to a moral vision of Europe then I'm interested in that, because the European ideal is not just about making money. They say they do think these other things are important.
Mr Rushdie met the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Spring, in Dublin yesterday to discuss the attempts to have the fatwa lifted.
The fatwa was issued by Ayatollah Khomeini in February 1989 after Mr Rushdie was accused of insulting Islam in his novel The Satanic Verses.
Mr Spring told reporters that while the critical dialogue "offers some opportunities, the success has not been great". He felt it was worth continuing but added: "It is reviewed on an ongoing basis and if the day should come when we think it should be cut off, then we will take the appropriate action."
The fatwa remained an obstacle to the development of relations between the EU and Iran, he said. The EU had an "ongoing commitment" to the pursuit of a resolution of the issue through negotiations with Iran.
Before meeting Mr Spring yesterday Mr Rushdie said he felt the critical dialogue with Iran should be scrapped if it had not "borne fruit" by the end of the Dutch EU presidency next June.
"Nothing in terms of Iran's general human rights record, not a single achievement can be pointed to. It seems inescapable to argue that really what the critical dialogue is, is a fig leaf behind which the EU and Iran can hide, pretending to be doing something about human rights while getting on with their trade relations.
"One of the things I'm looking for from the EU is some recognition that enough is enough, that Iran has been misbehaving in the most extreme way for a very long time in maintaining terrorist networks around Europe, carrying out assassinations against people it dislikes around Europe, dissidents and so on, continuing this threat, and somehow nothing seems to happen, no one seems to mind."
He was disappointed that it had taken such a long time to organise a meeting with the Irish EU presidency. On July 27th he had received a letter from Mr Spring's office offering a meeting during the Irish presidency to discuss what could be done. "We got that meeting today. That's a little disappointing - most of the presidency has passed without us being able to have any input into it."
He was nevertheless pleased that the issue was still on the EU agenda, and that the EU was still committed to helping resolve it. "But I have become used to judging by results and on that basis there is really very little by way of results to be satisfied by."
A Co Donegal couple and their two-year-old son were killed in a road traffic accident near Letterkenny shortly after 1 p.m. yesterday. Two other people were injured.
Mr Raymond Patton (37), his wife, Viola (33) and their son, Reece, from Cloncarney, Trentagh, Churchill, Co Donegal, died when two cars - a Honda Civic and an Opel Kadett - and a hire van were involved in the accident.
The Patton family was in the Opel Kadett which, like the Honda, was being driven towards Letterkenny on the main Derry road. The hire van was travelling in the opposite direction. Such was the force of impact that the van ended up on top of the two cars and the van engine was propelled out of the vehicle.
A mile-long stretch of roadway where the crash occurred was sealed off by gardai as the emergency services went to the scene. An eyewitness, Mr Joe Logan, from Naas, Co Kildare, said: "The van which was travelling in front of me seemed to collide with the Opel car first and then the Honda. I jumped out and ran down to them. The van was lying completely on top of the cars and both roofs were crushed in.
"There was a woman in the Honda and I got her out. I then ran to the second car but I could see immediately that the three, including a child, were dead, killed instantly.
"How the woman I pulled out of the car survived I don't know. It was a miracle," he said.