Neda, as she was / Neda, como ela era

Uma foto sem data mostra a iraniana Neda Agha-Soltan, morta ao ser atingida por uma bala, num protesto em Teerã, Irã.Neda Agha-Solta,26, era um raio de luz, e não uma ativista, dizem os amigos.

O vídeo que a mostra sangrando na rua a converteu em um símbolo internacional do movimento de protesto contra as fraudes nas eleições iranianas.

Para os que conheceram e amaram Neda, ela era mais do que um ícone. Era uma irmã, filha e amiga, uma apreciadora de música e amante das viagens. Uma bela jovem mulher, na primavera de sua vida. "Ela era uma pessoa cheia de alegria", disse seu professor de música e grande amigo, Hamid Panahi, presente ao velório, aguardando o momento do enterro.

"Ela era um raio de luz, estou tão triste. Eu tinha tantas esperanças em relação a ela" As forças de segurança mandaram a a família e amigos de Neda evitarem fazer as cerimônias em uma mesquita a disseram para não falarem sobre ela em público.

Chegaram a pedir à família que tirasse os panos negros de luto de frente da casa, sabedoras que Neda se tornara um poderoso símbolo da luta contra a fraude eleitoral. Mas muitos insistiram em continuar falando, esperando assegurar que o mundo jamais a esqueça.

Neda Agha-Soltan nasceu em Teerã, de um pai funcionário público e uma mãe dona de casa. Formavam uma família modesta, parte da classe média emergente iraniana que fez sua vidas em vizinhanças de desenvolvimento rápido ou nas periferias leste ou oeste da cidade.

Como tantos na vizinhança, Neda era leal às raízes islâmicas do país e a seus valores tradicionais, mas também curiosa a respeito do mundo exterior, facilmente acessível pela TV por satélite, internet ou eventuais viagens ao exterior.

A segunda de três filhos, ela estudou filosofia Islãmica em uma seção da Universidade Azad de Teerã, até decidir-se pela carreira na indústria do turismo. Viajar era sua paixão.

Mas ela jamais foi uma ativista, e começou a comparecer aos protestos somente por causa de um senso de ultraje pessoal com os resultados das eleições fraudados. Os amigos não queriam que ela fosse, mas não adiantou.

Afinal, tudo o que ela queria era que os votos do povo iraniano fossem contados corretamente.

An undated picture shows Iranian Neda Agha-Soltan, who was killed when hit by a bullet during a protest in Tehran.

Neda Agha-Soltan, 26, 'was a beam of light' and not an activist, friends say. The video footage of her bleeding on the street has turned her into an international symbol of the protest movement.

To those who knew and loved Neda, she was far more than an icon. She was a daughter, sister and friend, a music and travel lover, a beautiful young woman in the prime of her life."She was a person full of joy," said her music teacher and close friend Hamid Panahi, who was among the mourners at her family home on Sunday, awaiting word of her burial. "She was a beam of light. I'm so sorry.

I was so hopeful for this woman."Security forces urged Neda's friends and family not to hold memorial services for her at a mosque and asked them not to speak publicly about her, associates of the family said. Authorities even asked the family to take down the black mourning banners in front of their house, aware of the potent symbol she has become.But some insisted on speaking out anyway, hoping to make sure the world would not forget her.Neda Agha-Soltan was born in Tehran, they said, to a father who worked for the government and a mother who was a housewife.

They were a family of modest means, part of the country's emerging middle class who built their lives in rapidly developing neighborhoods on the eastern and western outskirts of the city.Like many in her neighborhood, Neda was loyal to the country's Islamic roots and traditional values, friends say, but also curious about the outside world, which is easily accessed through satellite television, the Internet and occasional trips abroad.The second of three children, she studied Islamic philosophy at a branch of Tehran's Azad University, until deciding to pursue a career in the tourism industry.

She took private classes to become a tour guide, including Turkish language courses, friends said, hoping to some day lead groups of Iranians on trips abroad.Travel was her passion, and with her friends she saved up enough money for package tours to Dubai, Turkey and Thailand. Two months ago, on a trip to Turkey, she relaxed along the beaches of Antalya, on the Mediterranean coast.She loved music, especially Persian pop, and was taking piano classes, according to Panahi, who is in his 50s, and other friends.

She was also an accomplished singer, they said.But she was never an activist, they added, and she began attending the mass protests only because of a personal sense of outrage over the election results.Her parents and others told her it would be dangerous to go to Saturday's march, said Golshad.

On Friday, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had warned in his weekly prayer sermon that demonstrators would be responsible for any violence that broke out. Even Golshad stayed away. At 3:30 the two friends spoke."I told her, 'Neda, don't go,' " she recalled, heaving with sobs.But she was as stubborn as she was honest, Golshad said, and she ended up going anyway."She said, 'Don't worry. It's just one bullet and its over.' " "She couldn't stand the injustice of it all," Panahi said. "All she wanted was the proper vote of the people to be counted."