WORLD IN BRIEF : IRAN : Radical Bloc Leader Calls Hostages Spies
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
The leader of Iran’s radical faction said some of the foreigners held hostage in Lebanon are spies, and he argued against releasing any of what he called “mercenary U.S. hostages.” The comments by Ali Akbar Mohtashemi, a former interior minister who opposes President Hashemi Rafsanjani’s overtures to the West, appeared in a signed editorial in a Tehran daily. Mohtashemi also argued that other Muslim nations have no business aiding Western nations in efforts to free the hostages.
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