THE TELEGRAPH: Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, warned opposition leaders on Sunday to distance themselves from protesters he accused of acting against the Islamic regime's late founder Ayatollah Khomeini.
Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi have faced mounting pressure since December 7 anti-government protests during which a poster of the late revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini was allegedly torn up.
"Those who shout slogans in the name of these people (opposition leaders), hoist their pictures and speak of them with respect are in a point which is the exact opposite of the Imam (Khomeini), revolution and Islam," the Supreme Leader said on state television.
"When you see this, step aside," he said in remarks addressed to the two opposition leaders, who he referred to as his "former brothers".
"I don't believe in purging, I believe in maximum attraction, but it looks as if some people insist on distancing themselves from the system and they have turned a family dispute into a battle against the system," the Ayatollah said. >>> | Sunday, December 13, 2009
