Iranian clerics condemn 'repulsive' Al-Jazeera

An Iranian religious group attacked Al-Jazeera television over a programme seen as defamatory to Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Shiite Islam's top cleric, state television reported.

"Once again the evil hand of world arrogance (the United States) has come out of the notorious Al-Jazeera network which unveiled its hypocrite face even more than before by insulting and disrespecting his highness Ayatollah Sistani," the Association of Qom Seminary Lecturers said in a statement, accprdomg to AFP.

"Undoubtedly, democracy claimants and enemies of the Iraqi people want to damage the solidarity and harmony he has brought by influencing media and television," the group said, denouncing "this repulsive and ridiculous move".

Qom, situated just south of Tehran, is Iran's religious epicentre.

In a debate aired late on Tuesday on the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera satellite news channel, the London-based Iraqi writer Fadel al-Rubaye said Shiite religious leaders had "favored the entry of American troops in Iraq" and had urged Iraqis not to resist the occupation.

Rubaye, himself a Shiite, also said that clerics such as Sistani should keep out of politics and return to their mosques.

The pan-Arab satellite channel has been accused of bias in favour of Iraqi insurgents and has been banned by the Iraqi government from sending correspondents to the country.

Iran's foreign ministry said on Sunday it had summoned Qatar's ambassador in Tehran to protest over the "absolutely unacceptable" programme.

The comments have also prompted angry protests in Shiite-dominated Iraq, but Al-Jazeera has maintained that "what guests say (during programmes) does not necessarily represent the position of the channel".

In April, the Iranian government also "temporarily closed" the office of Al-Jazeera in Tehran for allegedly provoking separatist elements in Iran's ethnic Arab minority.