A Chequer-Board of Nights and Days

Evidently, even the French are on the list of possible subversives as far as the leaders of the Islamic regime in Iran are concerned:

A 38-year-old Montreal-based doctoral student is being prevented from leaving Iran after spending a month in jail for interviewing opposition members, Reporters Without Borders said today.

Mehrnoushe Soulouki was freed from Tehran's Evin prison in March after being interrogated and confined to a cell.

Since then, she has been unable to leave the country, according to Ajar Smouni, a spokeswoman for Reporters Without Borders.

The Iranian-French journalism student, who studies at the University of Quebec in Montreal, was arrested Feb 17 after interviewing family members of the opposition People's Mujahedeen, who said they had been victims of repression, according to Smouni.

She said Iranian authorities took her notes and film footage and have since called her in for questioning.

Soulouki had obtained permission from Iranian authorities to produce a documentary film on the aftermath of the Iran-Iraq war.