US, Israel behind Iraq kidnaps: says Iran leader

By: Sheikh Muhammad Khurasani

TEHRAN, Iran: As the threat of execution hung over a Filipino hostage in Iraq and the UN appointed a veteran Pakistani Muslim diplomat to be ambassador to Baghdad, Iran's Supreme Leader said Tuesday he believed the US and Israel were behind the kidnapping and beheading of foreign nationals in Iraq.

“We seriously suspect the agents Americans and Israelis in conducting such horrendous terrorist moves,” the official IRNA news agency quoted Supreme Leader Ayatullah Ali Khamenei as saying in a meeting with visiting Singaporean Premier Goh Chok Tong.

“(We) cannot believe that the people who kidnap Philippine nationals, for instance, or beheaded US nationals are Muslims.”

He said: “Terrorism is a loathsome, horrible phenomenon and the Islamic Republic of Iran has deeply felt its consequences ever since many years ago and that is the reason why we consider the campaign against terrorism not only essential but also of great importance.”

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