Agence-France Press and Reuters News Agency quoted
government sources, who said the body of Ms. Kazemi, has already been transferred
from Tehran to Shiraz.
An official, who declined to give his name, said
the decision was in accordance with the wishes of Ms. Kazemi's mother.
"Her body was taken to Shiraz this evening
and the funeral will be held at 8:00 am [3:30 GMT] on Wednesday morning,"
a culture ministry official told AFP.
The 54-year-old Quebec woman died earlier this
month from a blow to the head after she was arrested for taking photographs
outside a Tehran prison. A special Iranian cabinet committee reported that
she died on July 10 of a skull fracture suffered during a beating while in
custody.
Canadian consular officials are looking into
the reports, Reynold Doiron, a spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs
in Ottawa, told globeandmail.com Tuesday.
Mr. Doiron said Canada has not confirmed whether
Ms. Kazemi's mother has given her permission to have her daughter buried there.
Ms. Kazemi's son, Stephan Hachemi, has expressed frustration that the Canadian
government has not done enough to get the body repatriated to Canada.
Mr. Doiron also confirmed that the prosecutor
whom some accuse of bearing responsibility for Ms. Kazemi's death, has been
appointed to investigate her death while investigating government protests.
Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, the hardliner
heading Iran's judiciary, referred the inquiry into Ms. Kazemi's death to
Tehran prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi.
Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham has demanded
that the Iranian government act quickly to bring to justice those responsible
for Ms. Kazemi's death.
The death has become another bitter point of
contention between hardliners and reformists struggling for power in Iran.
Reformers have called for the prosecution of Mr. Mortazavi and other hardliners
they hold responsible for Ms. Kazemi's death.
A telephone conversation between Mr. Graham and
Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi did not happen Tuesday as scheduled,
Mr. Doiron said. Mr. Graham has so far made one telephone call to his counterpart.
But Mr. Graham plans to speak with Mr. Kharrazi
soon, the spokesman said.
"This has been postponed to some time [in
the near future]," he said, citing a trip by Mr. Kharrazi as the reason
why the two politicians did not speak on Tuesday.
Government officials, meanwhile, say Prime Minister
Jean Chrétien may call President Mohammed Khatami directly to try to sort
through the complications that have frustrated Ms. Kazemi's family and Iranian
exile groups. A spokesperson from the Prime Minister's Office could not immediately
be reached.
Canadian Alliance foreign affairs critic Stockwell
Day called on the government to "impose serious consequences against
the Iranian regime," if it does not get action from the Iranian government
on the matter.
Mr. Day said in a statement Tuesday that Ottawa
should, among other things, suspend diplomatic relations with Iran and expel
Iranian diplomats.
With reports from Associated Press and Canadian
Press.
