Iran's leader welcomes Saddam's ouster, condemns "aggression against Islam"

TEHRAN (AFP) Apr 11, 2003
The US-British war in Iraq constitutes an "aggression against Islam", even though Iran is happy to see Saddam Hussein ousted from power, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared Friday.

"Our position is the same as that of the Iraqi nation. The Iraqi nation is happy about Saddam's departure and we are happy about Saddam's departure," Khamenei said in a Friday prayer sermon in Tehran.

But he added: "Happiness about Saddam's departure has nothing to do with the arrival of the occupier," and slammed US plans to install a military government in Baghdad.

"We consider this to be an aggression against Islam," the all-powerful leader said.

"The Iraqi people have not escaped from the dictatorship of Saddam, only to come under the yoke of the bigger dictatorship of an American."

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