Thousands of people offer the Eid Al-Fitr prayers, which were led by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei (inset), at TehranÕs Grand Prayer Grounds, Oct. 13.

TEHRAN, Oct. 13--Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said on Saturday one of the issues currently bothering the Muslim world is the Iraqi crisis.
Addressing thousands of worshippers in Eid Al-Fitr prayers in Tehran, Ayatollah Khamenei said the foreign occupying forces do not let the Iraqi people to confront terrorism and the rising incidents of crimes, IRNA reported.
“This shows that the occupiers support and endorse blind terrorism. Hence, the Americans and other occupiers are to blame for every human disaster taking place in Iraq,“ he said.
Referring to the humiliating defeat of the Zionist Israeli army by Lebanon’s Hezbollah in the 33-day war, the leader said the main reason for US efforts to hold the so-called Middle East peace conference in autumn is to save the weakened Zionist regime.
He called on all Palestinian groups to work for unity, brotherhood and vigilance.
Addressing the Palestinian groups, Ayatollah said the enemies are hatching plots to create rifts among Palestinians, hence they should be careful to avoid confronting each other.
“How can some Muslim governments take part in the Middle East conference that is considered deceptive by the Palestinians?“ he said.
Ayatollah Khamenei termed the elimination of resistance among Palestinians as the main goal of all policies and measures of the Zionists.
“Any gathering held under the name of peace has harmed the Palestinian interests. For the same reason, Palestinians reject the so-called Greater Middle East initiative,“ he said.
In a meeting with officials and ambassadors of Muslim countries on Saturday, the leader noted that Eid Al-Fitr is a good opportunity for strengthening Muslim solidarity in different areas, IRIB reported.
“The enemy has in the past tried to harm the national solidarity of Iranians by taking advantage of their ethnic diversity,“ he said.
Ayatollah Khamenei stressed that the source of unity in Iran is Islam and the Holy Qur’an.

MOSCOW, Oct. 13--The US and Russia failed to resolve a missile defense dispute at their talks in Moscow between the countries’ foreign and defense ministers.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said talks in the “two-plus-two“ format had failed to overcome differences on US plans to deploy missile defense elements in Central Europe and Russian proposals to extend the START-1 arms reduction treaty, but that a decision was made to continue discussions at the level of experts, Ria Novosti reported.
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates reassured Russia on Saturday that the Pentagon will not put military bases in ex-Soviet Georgia and Ukraine, but he criticized Moscow for arms sales to US foes Iran and Syria.
Speaking at the Military Academy of General Staff, at the end of a tense two-day visit to Moscow, Gates said there would be no US bases in either Georgia or Ukraine.
The issue is of high sensitivity in Moscow, which has seen its longtime dominance of neighboring countries severely diminished since the 1991 Soviet collapse. Both Georgia and Ukraine now have pro-Western leaderships that desire to join NATO.
Earlier on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted tense talks with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Gates at his country residence near Moscow on defense issues.
Later in the day, Rice said in an interview with Russian TV channel “Rossiya“ that the US should start deploying elements of its missile defense shield in Central Europe without delay.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the US side offered an alternative to its missile defense plans in a bid to allay Russia’s concerns, and said Moscow would study it.
“Today our American counterparts presented their return proposal, aimed at finding a solution to the dispute,“ he said.
The foreign minister said Russia had again urged the US to freeze its plans to deploy missile defense elements in Poland and the Czech Republic.
Lavrov said the US policy of unilateral sanctions and not ruling out military action was not helping persuade Iran to be open about its nuclear plans.
“Such unilateral actions contradict our collective efforts and make them less effective,“ he said.
Meanwhile, Rice on Saturday criticized the extent of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s grip on power as human rights activists urged her to pressure Moscow ahead of upcoming elections.
“There is too much concentration of power in the Kremlin. Everybody has doubts about the full independence of the judiciary,“ Rice told reporters on the second day of a visit to Moscow.
Rice was meeting with eight campaigners in the areas of civil and human rights during a visit to Moscow that came ahead of parliamentary elections in December and a presidential vote next March, at which time Putin is due to stand down.

TEHRAN, Oct. 13--Iranian ambassador to France urged the Group 5+1 to help IAEA Chief Mohamed ElBaradei ease tensions with Iran.
Commenting on France’s stance on Iran’s nuclear case on Friday, Ali Ahani also told Radio France that Iran has always announced that its nuclear program is peaceful and does not pursue military ambitions, IRNA reported. The five veto powers plus Germany comprise the Group 5+1.
“We have close cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and an IAEA delegation is presently in Iran to resolve the pending issues,“ he added. Ahani pointed out that some European countries have criticized France’s recent stance vis-ˆ-vis Iran’s nuclear activities.
Asked whether Russia will support Iran’s nuclear activities till the end, he said what is clear is that Russian President Vladimir Putin is more familiar with nuclear activities taking place in the Middle East than his American counterpart, George W. Bush.
Questioned about death penalty in Iran, Ahani said as in other Muslim countries and some non-Muslim countries like the US, Iran also uses death penalty for those who are convicted of capital crimes.
Ahani stressed that capital punishment is enforced meticulously and in accordance with the law.
“A majority of those executed were drug traffickers,“ he said.

OSLO, Norway, Oct. 13--Former US Vice President Al Gore and the UN climate panel won the Nobel Peace Prize for helping galvanize international action against global warming before it “moves beyond man’s control“.
Political opponents saw the award as a snub to President George W. Bush who has doubted the science of global warming and rejected caps on emissions of gases believed to cause it, but the White House said it was happy for the winners and praised their work, Reuters reported.
Gore, who lost narrowly to Bush in the 2000 presidential election and who some hope will run again in 2008, and the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) were chosen to share the $1.5 million prize.
“Action is necessary now, before climate change moves beyond man’s control,“ the committee said.
It warned that climate change--linked to droughts, floods and rising seas--could threaten living conditions across the world, prompt mass migrations and increase the risk of wars.
“We wish to put world climate on the agenda in connection with peace,“ committee chairman Ole Danbolt Mjoes said.
Since leaving office in 2001, Gore has lectured extensively on the threat of global warming and last year starred in his own Oscar-winning documentary film “An Inconvenient Truth“ to warn of the dangers and urge action against it.
However, Gore’s award had some critics.
“Al Gore doesn’t understand the science behind climate change or he deliberately misrepresents it,“ said Joseph Bast, whose Chicago-based Heartland Institute has run newspaper ads challenging Gore to debates on global warming.
Czech President Vaclav Klaus was surprised at the award because the relationship between Gore’s work and world peace was “unclear and indistinct“, his spokesman said.
IPCC Chairman Rajendra Pachauri said in New Delhi he was overwhelmed and privileged to share the prize with Gore.
“This recognition...thrusts a new responsibility on our shoulders. We have to do more and we have many more miles to go.“
The IPCC groups 2,500 researchers from more than 130 nations and issued reports this year blaming human activities for climate change ranging from more heat waves to floods. It was set up in 1988 by the United Nations to help guide governments.

Ammar Hakim

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Oct. 13--A key Shiite member of Iraq’s ruling coalition called for the complete withdrawal of foreign troops from his country and rejected the possibility of permanent bases.
Ammar Hakim, a leading figure of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC), told a gathering celebrating the Muslim holiday of Eid Al-Fitr on Saturday: “We will work not to have fixed bases for foreign troops on Iraqi lands,“ AFP reported.
He also called on American forces to be more careful in their use of force after recent bombings killed civilians in a Shiite village north of Baghdad and in a Sunni area northwest of the Iraqi capital.
“We are working to enter into a security agreement with the international community to ensure that Iraq retrieves its full sovereignty,“ he said.
Hakim is the son of SIIC leader Abdel Aziz Al-Hakim and has played an increasingly prominent role in recent months as his father recovers from cancer.
The SIIC is one of the largest parties in the Iraqi Parliament and a key supporter of Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki’s government.
“We express our deep sorrow at the civilian citizens killed by multinational forces as happened at Al-Jayzani and in other regions,“ said Hakim. “We wish them to be more cautious in dealing with the citizens.“
A double US air strike eight days ago on the village of Jayzani, 30 miles north of Baghdad, killed 25 people US commanders said were Iranian-linked militants
but which Iraqi authorities said included women and children.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Hakim called for more dialogue between the US and Iran.
Iraq’s Shiite-led government of Al-Maliki has long played a delicate balancing act in the bitter rivalry between Washington and Tehran, putting off Iranian calls for a US troop pullout while balking at US pressure to take a tougher line against Tehran.
“We call for positive dialogue between America and Iran,“ he said.
Hakim appealed for unity among all Iraqis and a faster build up of the national security forces that could assume full responsibility from US troops in the country.
“We will do our best not to allow a permanent (foreign) military base on our land,“ Hakim told hundreds of supporters.

VATICAN CITY,
Oct. 13--It’s not the Holy Grail, but for fans of “The Da Vinci Code“ and its tantalizing story line about the Knights Templar, it could be the next best thing.
Ignored for centuries, documents about the heresy trial of the ancient Christian order discovered in the Vatican’s secret archives are being published in a limited edition--with an $8,377 price tag, AP reported.
They include a 14th-century parchment showing that Pope Clement V initially absolved the Templar leaders of heresy, though he did find them guilty of immorality and planned to reform the order, according to the Vatican archives Web site.
But pressured by King Philip IV of France, Clement later reversed his decision and suppressed the order in 1312.
Only 799 copies of the 300-page volume, “Processus Contra Templarios,“--Latin for “Trial against the Templars“--are for sale, said Scrinium publishing house, which prints documents from the Vatican’s secret archives. Each will cost $8,377, the publisher said Friday.
An 800th copy will go to Pope Benedict XVI, said Barbara Frale, the researcher who found the long-overlooked parchment tucked away in the archives in 2001.
The Knights Templar, which ultimately disappeared because of the heresy scandal, recently captivated the imagination of readers of the best-seller “The Da Vinci Code,“ which linked the order to the legend of the Holy Grail.
The new Vatican work reproduces the entire documentation of the papal hearings convened after Philip IV of France arrested and tortured Templar leaders in 1307 on charges of heresy and immorality.
The military order of the Poor Knights of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon was founded in 1118 in Beit-ul-Moqaddas to protect pilgrims in the Holy Land after the First Crusade.
As their military might increased, the Templars also grew in wealth, acquiring property throughout Europe and running a primitive banking system. After they left the Middle East with the collapse of the Crusader kingdoms, their power and secretive ways aroused the fear of European rulers and sparked accusations of corruption and blasphemy.
Historians believe Philip owed debts to the Templars and used the accusations to arrest their leaders and extract, under torture, confessions of heresy in order to seize the order’s
riches.

TEHRAN, Oct. 13--An Iranian diplomat in Lebanon said on Saturday the recent statements of the head of Lebanon’s Progressive Socialist Party, Walid Jumblatt, against Iran are hallucinations.
In an interview with an Arabic daily, Jumblatt claimed that Iran is interfering in Lebanon’s internal affairs through the Hezbollah resistance movement, IRNA reported.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the Iranian diplomat rejected Jumblatt’s statements and emphasized that Iran is known for its constructive efforts in Lebanon.
“Everyone knows that Iran has done its best for preventing the interference of foreigners in Lebanon’s internal affairs. Iran has called on the Lebanese nation to work for unity, solidarity and understanding,“ he said.
The Iranian official pointed out that Iran has always endeavored to resolve the Lebanese crisis.