The World - News from Dec. 10, 1987

French President Francois Mitterrand demanded that the rightist government, which sets French policy independent of the president, explain why it expelled 14 Iranian and three Turkish dissidents to the West African nation of Gabon after the release of two French hostages in Lebanon. The Moujahedeen, an Iranian opposition group, said demonstrations are being staged to protest the expulsions. The action by the government, which said that those expelled are members of the Moujahedeen, was defended by Interior Minister Charles Pasqua, who called the group a “political organization using France as a platform for subversive activities.”