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''I don't believe that his message really resonates strongly in the Muslim
world,'' Mr. Khatami said in an interview with The New York Times, his first
with an American publication since assuming the presidency in 1997. ''Public
opinion in the Muslim world in general wants peace, security and stability and
the right to defend their religion and their freedom.''
In a break with past Iranian statements, Mr. Khatami also used the interview
to offer the clearest suggestion yet that his Islamic nation might eventually be
prepared to recognize Israel.
Mr. Khatami, who is in New York for a meeting of the United Nations General
Assembly starting today, made his remarks less than a week after Mr. bin Laden
issued a videotaped message in which he attacked the organization and denounced
as infidels Muslim leaders who cooperate with it.
Heedless of the threat, Mr. Khatami addressed the General Assembly yesterday.
[Page A6.]
''The horrific terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, in the United States were
perpetrated by cult of fanatics who had self-mutilated their ears and tongues,
and could only communicate with perceived opponents through carnage and
devastation,'' he said.
The Iranian leader, a mid-rank Shiite cleric who has studied philosophy, has
harshly criticized those who have sought to portray Islam as a religion of hate
opposed to the West.
Islam should not be blamed by what he called ''extremist movements and
terrorist movements around the world,'' Mr. Khatami said in the interview,
adding that ''Islam brings a message of peace for humanity.''
He is also eager to promote Iran's Islamic republic as proof that Islamic
government can be, in his words, ''a good model for all Islamic countries.''
Today saw a special United Nations conference during the year of ''Dialogue
Among Civilizations,'' an initiative that Mr. Khatami proposed during his first
visit to the United Nations in 1998.
''There are two ways to look at religion,'' he said. ''One is the extremist,
narrow-minded approach to religion which is inhumane, and the second is an
interpretation of Islam based on wisdom. God willing, as God has wanted for us,
all of us, Christians Jews, Muslims, everyone, can interpret religion in a free
manner based on wisdom and foresight to protect our religion as well as to
provide peace for our region.''
He blamed ''dirty hands'' that ''want to stir negative feelings against the
West in the Muslim world and against Muslims in the West,'' adding, ''So we must
strongly prevent a clash among civilizations and religions and the spread of
hatred.''
But he stressed that Iran had not been provided with proof of Mr. bin Laden's
involvement in the terror attacks of Sept. 11.
''We have not been given any clear or written evidence in this regard,'' he
said. ''Some activities attached to these people or these groups have carried
out acts no doubt that can be interpreted as acts of terrorism, but in this
particular respect we have no evidence except this speculation that has been
made and statements made about having the evidence.''
Mr. Khatami faces an uphill battle in criticizing others for promoting
terrorism. Iran is listed by the State Department as the world's most active
state supporter of terrorism, largely because of its arming of the Lebanese
Shiite organization Hezbollah and its material support for the Palestinian
groups Hamas and for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Mr. Khatami categorically rejected charges that Iran supports terrorism, as
he has done consistently in the past. ''This is one of the injustices of the
U.S. against us,'' he said.
A full text of the interview will be available on
www.nytimes.com/international.
Regarding the Middle East conflict, he said his country would respect the
wishes of the Palestinian people if they chose to recognize Israel's right to
exist.
''If the Palestinians accept this issue, while from a moral standpoint we
believe that a government of oppression is not an acceptable government, we will
respect the wishes of the Palestinian nation,'' he said.
The Palestinian Authority, under the leadership of Yasir Arafat, has already
recognized Israel. Mr. Khatami's remarks hinted at what may eventually become a
more flexible approach to a Middle East peace.
At the same time, he did not relent in his country's traditional criticism of
the Israeli government, which he said was itself ''founded on terror and
killings.''
''We of course do not recognize Israel,'' the reformist cleric said. ''We
believe Palestinian land has been usurped. But of course it is up to the people
of Palestine themselves, and it is they who have to decide what to do. And I
think that whatever all the Palestinians want must be accepted by the entire
world.''
Mr. Khatami also did not say whether Iran would consider an agreement between
Israel and the Palestinians under the leadership of Mr. Arafat as reflecting the
will of all Palestinians, including those in the diaspora who have been
displaced.
Since the creation of an Islamic republic in 1979, both Ayatollah Ruhollah
Khomeini, the father of Iran's revolution, and the successor as supreme leader
after his death, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have branded Israel as an illegitimate
regime and called for its annihilation.
In the past, Ayatollah Khamenei has branded Mr. Arafat ''a traitor and an
idiot'' who does not represent the Palestinian people.
But the remarks by Mr. Khatami, a reformer who has twice been elected
president in landslides, reflect the complex maneuvering between the two clerics
and the groups they represent.
Mr. Khatami reiterated the long-held Iranian policy that demands a
comprehensive peace for the Palestinians. ''There is no solution to the problem
of Palestine other than the official recognition of the rights of the people of
Palestine, the return of all refugees to their land, the creation of a
Palestinian state with its capital in Jerusalem, the recognition of the right of
the people of Palestine, the people of Palestine regardless of whether they are
Jewish, Christian or Muslim, to decide their own future,'' he said.
Despite his condemnation of Mr. bin Laden, the Iranian president also called
for an end to the military campaign in Afghanistan ''as soon as possible,''
warning that a long war would ''lead to more suffering and pain for the people
of Afghanistan.''
But he made no attempt to deny Iran's military, logistical and financial
support for the Afghan Northern Alliance, which the United States has backed
militarily in its war against the de facto Taliban government. Iran is opposed
to Taliban rule, which it considers a perversion of Islam, and Mr. Khatami said
the Northern Alliance was the ''legitimate transitional government'' that is
recognized by the United Nations and has diplomatic representation in many
countries.
Asked how he envisioned a post-Taliban government and whether it could
include the former king of Afghanistan, Mohammad Zahir, Mr. Khatami was vague,
saying, ''We believe in a transitional period that will be created by the
international community under the sponsorship and supervision of the United
Nations so that all groups in Afghanistan based on their representation, their
weight in society can participate.''
Because of an editing error, a front-page article on Saturday about comments
by President Mohammad Khatami of Iran rejecting the version of Islam professed
by Osama bin Laden referred incorrectly to an additional statement of his, about
Israel. The assertion that Iran might be prepared to recognize Israel if the
Palestinians did so first was the plainest expression yet of an Iranian policy
that had earlier been expressed less specifically. But it was not a break with
past Iranian statements.
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