Ahmadinejad

TEHRAN, Iran (AP):

Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad urged students yesterday to push for a purge of liberal and secular teachers from universities, in another sign of his determination to stamp a strong Islamic fundamentalist revival on the country.

Ahmadinejad's call was not a surprise - since taking office a year ago, he also has moved to replace pragmatic veterans in the government and diplomatic corps with former military commanders and inexperienced religious hard-liners.

Earlier this year, dozens of liberal university professors and teachers were sent into retirement, and last November, Ahmadinejad's administration for the first time named a cleric to head the country's oldest institution of higher education, Tehran University - drawing strong protests from students.

His administration also has launched crackdowns on independent journalists, websites and bloggers.

Still, the latest call was another sign that Ahmadinejad is determined to remake Iran, which still has strong moderate factions.