TEHRAN The journalists in charge of the banned daily Neshat said they were going to publish the daily Akhbar Eqtesad, as scheduled before and that it was not going to replace the banned daily. The daily Neshat's managing editor Latif Safari and its chief editor Mashallah Shamsolvaezin told the Iranian and foreign reporters at a press conference here yesterday that they were about to publish the daily Akhbar Eqtesad with focus on economic affairs.

Shamsolvaezin told the reporters that "if Khatami is under pressure, he should say this in clear words." "Presently, it is the civil institutions that are paying for the establishment of the civil society, and the political structure of the power is not paying anything in this regard," he added. He said, "Two years have elapsed since the election of President Khatami, and five dailies have been banned in this period.

This is a clear sign indicating that Iran is lagging behind others as far as respect for the human rights is concerned." As to the policy adopted by the Judiciary on the press, he said, "After the replacement of the Judiciary chief, I thought the Judiciary needed reforms. But now I believe it requires a surgery', as the new chief is following the same policies." Shamsolvaezin also hoped the ban on the daily would be lifted soon.

"Otherwise, we'll have to publish a new daily, for we are journalists and not know any other job," he said. Moreover, the managing editor of Neshat told the reporters he was wondering how some groups called pressure groups' were airing anti-Neshat slogans in a country where the government, the Judiciary, and all the officials claim to abide by the law, following a revolution that achieved victory based on thought and wisdom.