Khomeiny blast at democrats

Press, 27 August 1979, Page 8

Khomeiny blast at democrats

NZPA-Reuter Teheran Iran’s unofficial Head of State, Aya'ullal. Ruhollah Khomeiny, in a new blast against his political opponents, has said that those who want freedom only crave for bars, brothels, drugs, and casinos. In a speech reported by tire Teheran press yesterday, the 79-year-old Ayatollah said: “When democrats talk a’: out freedom, they are int .red by thi super-powers. They want to lead our youth tr places of corruption. “You who want prostitution and freedc t in every matter are intellectuals. You consider corrupt morality as freedom, prostitution as freedom,” he said. He added, “Those who w-.nt freedom, want the freedom to have bars, brothe' casinos, opium, etc. But we want our youth to carve out a new period in history. We do not want intellectuals.”

The Ayatollah who was addressing a crowd in the holy city of Qom 150 km south of Teheran on Satur-

day to mark the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, referred to himself by the new title of “OIolamr.” In Koranic terms this means a religious leader wtk is competent to judge all matters and whose orders it is a religious duty to obey Meanwhile, gunmen yesterday killed the financial manager of the leading Teheran newspaper, “Kayhan,” and hi. son, the State rad- j has said. The gunmen had also wounded the owner of the paper, the radio said. The radio interrupted normal programmes to announce that Haj Mehdi Araghi, and his son, Haj Hessam, aged 20, had been shot. The radio described the tw> murdered men as “true martyrs of the Islamic revolution.” The radio said Haj Mehdi Araghi had spent 15 years in tbr. Shah’s jails and described him as a devoted follower of Ayatollah Khomeiny.