Khamenei accuses occupiers of sponsoring terrorism in Mideast

TEHRAN, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah AliKhamenei accused the occupiers of sponsoring terrorism in the Middle East, local satellite Press TV reported on Thursday.

In a message delivered to the annual Hajj pilgrims in Mecca, Khamenei warned that the occupiers (implying Western countries) are sponsoring terrorism in the region.

"The occupiers, on the one hand, brand any popular resistance movements in Palestine, Lebanon or any other places as terrorism, and on the other hand organize and mastermind violent sectarian terrorism among regional nations," Khamenei was quoted as saying.

"The multi-faced demon of colonialism has now fielded all its capacities to bring Islam to its knees," said Khamenei.

He said in the region, the occupiers plot brutal murders, promote drugs, destroy the spirits and morality of the youth and provoke sectarian prejudice as well as enmity among Muslims.

The Hajj ceremony, being held currently and to reach its peak on Nov. 28, is a pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, the locus for rising Islam. It is the largest annual pilgrimage in the world and a moral obligation that must be carried out at least once in the lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim.

Khamenei called on the pilgrims for friendship and unity and direct their anger toward the enemies of the Islamic followers.

Iran has reiterated its protest voice against the presence of foreign forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, claiming it as the main cause for instability in the region.

On Wednesday, on the eve of Christian rite of Thanksgiving, U.S. President Barack Obama issued a special Hajj message to the world's Muslims and extended his greetings to them.