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TEHRAN, Iran
(AP) 06/03/2000
Iran's supreme leader today called on militant
Palestinians to continue their struggle against
Israel, saying the recent liberation of south
Lebanon from Israeli occupation showed what was
possible.
"It
is possible that in several years time parts of
occupied Palestine, and ultimately all of
occupied Palestine, will be returned to the
Palestinian
people,"
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a speech
broadcast live on Tehran radio.
"Today,
there are some who see this as unlikely, but
yesterday there were some who deemed the
Lebanese phenomenon unlikely, even impossible.
Yet, it
happened,"
Khamenei said, speaking to tens of thousands of
mourners marking the 11th anniversary of the
death of revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah
Khomeini.
Khamenei attacked
leaders of the Palestinian Authority and said
they were
"agents
of America and
Israel."
Without referring to the Palestinian Authority
by name, he said the Palestinian people should
put their faith in the militants.
"If
the Palestinians rely on the youth who have
faith, their movement will achieve
victory,"
Khamenei
said.
Representatives of
Palestinian groups in Tehran refused to comment
on Khamenei's speech.
Last month Israel and
its proxy South Lebanon Army pulled out of a
strip in southern Lebanon that had been occupied
since 1985 as a buffer against cross-border
guerrilla attacks.
Hezbollah, an
Iranian-backed leading guerrilla group in south
Lebanon, has called the Israeli withdrawal
"a
major
victory"
Iran does not recognize
Israel's right to exist and opposes the Middle
East peace process. Iran denies Israeli
accusations that it arms and finances militant
Palestinian groups, saying its support is purely
moral.
(http://www.newsday.com/ap/international/ap218.htm)
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