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Lebanon's Mufti Attacks Iran's Grand Ayatollah
"I tell you honestly that Khamenei's comments claiming that Lebanon will be the defeat point of the United States are a blatant case of intervention in Lebanese affairs," Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani told reporters in Cairo. The cleric, who met Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit on his second day in Cairo, was referring to comments made a month ago in which Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei predicted Lebanon would "be the defeat point for Israel and America." The Shiite regime's top cleric made the remark during a visit to Tehran by Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, head of the Shiite Amal movement. Lebanon has been bitterly divided since Shiite ministers resigned from the Saniora government last month, sparking anti-government demonstrations spearheaded by Hizbullah against the prime minister. "How would Iran react if an Arab country proclaimed that Tehran would witness the defeat of such and such a superpower?", asked Qabbani, who has defended the embattled government led by Premier Fouad Saniora. "Lebanon and its people should be left alone, free of any foreign pressure," he said. On Wednesday, Qabbani warned that the downfall of the government would lead to chaos and sectarian strife. "There will be no other government in Lebanon and Lebanon will descend into chaos and sectarian strife if the Saniora government falls," Qabbani told reporters in Cairo after meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. "The international tribunal must take its course and judge the people accused in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri because it is an unprecedented crime," he said. "What is currently happening in Lebanon is a way to prevent this tribunal from carrying out its duties," he warned.(AFP-Naharnet) Posted by: mrp 2006-12-21 |
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