TEHRAN, March 10 (UPI) -- Iran summoned the German ambassador to Tehran to voice its opposition to the alleged release of the leader of a Kurdish militant group in Berlin.
Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the head of the national security and foreign policy commission on the Iranian Parliament, said German envoy Bernd Erbel was summoned to Tehran to hear complaints about the apparent release of Abdul Rahman Haji Ahmadi, the leader of the militant Free Life Party of Kurdistan, or PJAK.
"The German government is strongly expected to conduct the necessary studies over this terrorist," Boroujerdi told the semiofficial Fars News Agency.
Ahmadi led PJAK since its founding in 2004. Iran has battled PJAK rebels and its affiliates in the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, for several years along its northwestern border with Iraq.
Washington in 2009 froze the assets of the militant group because of its alleged ties to the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK. The U.S. State Department, the European Union and Ankara include the PKK on their lists of foreign terrorist organizations.
Fars said a posting on a Web site tied to PJAK reported German authorities released the PJAK leader Monday.
"Germans argue that this terrorist has become a citizen of Germany, but no matter he has received German citizenship or not, terrorists should not enjoy freedom in Germany," said Boroujerdi.
Tehran called on Berlin to hand over the PJAK leader Tuesday.
