Ahmad Khatami: People Of Libya Will Resist The West

Memri, In his sermon today, Tehran interim Friday prayer leader Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami has warned the U.S. and the E.U. that the revolutionary people of Libya will, with all their might, stand up and resist Western military intervention in their own country.

Khatami referred to possible Western military intervention in Libya, under the pretext of supporting the popular uprising of the Libyan people, adding: "Western liberal democracy does not respect human values, since the Westerners decided to act against the Libyan dictator, once the Libyan people had risen up against the dictatorship, and once the protesters had taken control of Libya's oil wells.

He added: "U.S. military intervention in Libya means the Americans will enter another quagmire in the region."

In further remarks, he said that the message of the popular uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa is that peoples of the region have rejected dictatorships, they don't want dictators who are beholden to the hegemonic powers, and they forthrightly reject and oppose Islamophobia, and are against the anti-Islamic policies of the west.

Khatami added: "Today, dictatorships are collapsing one by one."

Turning to the popular uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, and Yemen, where, he said, the revolutionary peoples of these countries are revolting by chanting "Allahu Akbar" and attending Friday prayers, Khatami stressed that these uprisings are unprecedented within this region, and that quite clearly these popular uprisings have their origins in Islamic awakening.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Ayatollah Khatami described the Islamic government in Iran as popular and democratic, based upon the people's votes, and the will of the people, with holding of regular elections during the past three decades. He said the Islamic republic of Iran has always stood up to dictatorships.

Ayatollah Khatami pointedly added: "The arrogant powers must know that popular uprisings in this region have been inspired by and are a continuation of Iran's Islamic revolution."