Ahmadinejad opponents accuse him of faking support

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Opponents of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused him Saturday of faking his support by busing in students and soldiers to attend his public appearances, a strategy brought to light by the death of a student in a bus crash. The tactic and the student's death on Wednesday gave Ahmadinejad's reformist challengers ammunition to attack a president they blame for the country's faltering economy and its deepened international isolation. The president's top challenger in the June 12 vote, reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, said it was more important for Ahmadinejad to bus in people for his public speeches than to try to resolve double-digit inflation and unemployment. "It appears that luring students and crowds for the government is more important than tackling unemployment and inflation," Mousavi said in comments posted Saturday on his campaign Web site.