Cleric Aims Wrath at Muslims Backing U.S.

A hard-line Iranian cleric, in an apparent reference to neighboring Pakistan, said Friday that Muslim leaders backing U.S. attacks on Afghanistan risked losing support in their countries.

“To satisfy America, some Muslim countries have opened their arms to U.S. forces and offered military bases. They are displeasing God and their own people,” Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati told worshipers at Muslim prayers in Tehran.

Pakistan backs U.S.-led strikes against Afghanistan’s Taliban regime for harboring Osama bin Laden, Washington’s chief suspect in the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States that killed about 4,800 people.

Jannati also scorned British support for the United States.