Iran’s influential former president, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, on Friday hailed the Shi’ite Muslim militia of firebrand cleric Moqtada al-Sadr as “heroic” for rising up against the U.S. occupation in Iraq. Rafsanjani told worshippers at Friday prayers in Tehran that a distinction should be drawn between Shi’ite fighters, who have battled U.S.-led troops across southern Iraq this week, and insurrectionist supporters of Saddam Hussein’s Ba’ath party he described as “terrorists.” “Contrary to these terrorist groups in Iraq, there are powerful bodies which contribute to the security of that nation…among them is the Mehdi Army, made up of enthusiastic, heroic young people,” he told the crowd. Full Story
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