Ayatollah gives audience

Press, 9 March 1982, Page 8

Ayatollah gives audience

NZPA Beirut In an effort to thwart rumours that he is seriously sick, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeiny yesterday received a group of Iranian soccer players at his north Teheran residence and urged them to spread the Islamic revolution to other nations, Teheran radio has reported. Sounding! fit and jovial, the Ayatollah, who has a history of heart troubles, told the soccer players: “I am not a sportsman, but I like sports -people.” The State-owned radio broadcast a tape of the Ayatollah’s speech to the athletes during its midday, news bulletin, which was monitored in Beirut. The Ayatollah’s voice sounded stable and energetic. He urged the sportsmen to spread the word of Iran’s Islamic revolution to other countries in the region “because it is you who see people in your visits abroad.” In an apparent reference to conservative, oil-rich Arab nations, nervous about the Ayatollah’s threat to export his fundamentalist regime, the Ayatollah said: “It is these governments who are against us. Their peoples are in favour of our movement. As ' you show them your physical power, show the people your mental strength as well ... your ideological strength?’ In London, “The Times” on Saturday speculated that the Ayatollah was either dead or seriously ill. It is said the Iranian leader had not held a public audience for several weeks.