FIANNA FAIL MEP Mr Niall Andrews has backed calls by supporters of Salman Rushdie to use the Irish EU Presidency to put pressure on Iran into lifting its death threat against the writer.
Mr Andrews said Ireland, as a neutral country with good relations with Iran, was well placed to resolve the seven year dispute. He called for a visit by the EU troika to Iran to negotiate a lifting of the fatwa.
Meanwhile Green MEP Ms Patricia McKenna has urged the Government to treat with suspicion a statement by the Iranian authorities that the Irish presidency offered "the ideal opportunity" to improve EU Iranian opportunities based on a "depoliticisation" of the Rushdie affair.
