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| Sunday, 10 March 2002 |
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US evicts pastor from Iran ambassador residence WASHINGTON, Saturday (Reuters) U.S. marshals on Friday evicted a Christian fundamentalist pastor from the residence of the former Iranian ambassador in Washington for failing to pay the rent of $15,000 a month for four years, a spokesman said. Ruth Schofield, who called the building the Prince of Peace Embassy, leased the residence on affluent Massachusetts Avenue in northwest Washington in 1995 under a contract with the U.S. State Department, which acts as custodian in the absence of diplomatic relations. Schofield, who says she is ordained with the General Assemblies of God in Missouri, owes about $750,000 in arrears and the District of Columbia Federal District Court ruled last month that she could be evicted, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. "About 9:30 this morning, the deputy U.S. marshal from the District of Columbia executed the court order to evict the lady. I understand everything went very smoothly," said Don Hines, chief of public affairs at the U.S. Marshals Service. Boucher said the State Department uses the rent from such properties to maintain them. "We're required under Vienna Conventions to respect and protect the premises of missions that are owned by other governments," he added. The United States broke diplomatic relations with Iran in 1980 after revolutionary Iranian students held 52 U.S. diplomats hostage at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. Schofield's Web site, http://www.princepeaceembassy.org, says the residence serves as a "neutral prayer site," which more than 3,500 pastors and spiritual leaders have visited "to unite in their belief for religious liberty." The Web site said her organization needs about $5 million for its operations this year, including the costs of running the residence and other buildings. |
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