- TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's
Supreme Leader said on Tuesday he believed the United States and Israel,
rather than Muslims, were behind the kidnapping and killing of foreign
nationals in Iraq.
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- "We seriously suspect the agents Americans and Israelis
in conducting such horrendous terrorist moves," the official IRNA
news agency quoted Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as saying in a
meeting with visiting Singaporean Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong.
-
- "(We) cannot believe that the people who kidnap
Philippine nationals, for instance, or beheaded U.S. nationals are Muslims."
-
- Radical Islamic groups opposed to the presence of U.S.-led
forces in Iraq have claimed responsibility for the kidnappings of foreign
nationals there.
-
- A group calling itself the Islamic Army in Iraq has demanded
the withdrawal of Filipino troops from Iraq by July 20 in return for the
freedom of kidnapped Filipino truck driver Angelo de la Cruz.
-
- Iran frequently trades barbed rhetoric with its arch
foes the United States and Israel, which accuse Tehran of sponsoring terrorist
groups and developing nuclear arms.
-
- But Khamenei said Iran was committed to fighting terrorism.
-
- "Terrorism is a loathsome, horrible phenomenon and
the Islamic Republic of Iran has deeply felt its consequences ever since
many years ago and that is the reason why we consider the campaign against
terrorism not only essential but also of great importance," he said.
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