Word: qum
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Khomeini, refusing all talk of compromise, made repeated broadcasts from the holy city of Qum, whipping his followers into a mass frenzy that culminated in two vast outpourings of support. The first was on Friday, which to Iran's Shi'ite Muslims was Ashura, the holiest day of the year (and the anniversary of the demonstrations that led to the Shah's downfall). The second was on Sunday, when Iranians were to vote on a new constitution that would make Khomeini in effect dictator of the country. With the Imam flatly declaring that it was every Iranian's religious duty...
...Tehran, the political situation deteriorated markedly as the week passed. The rumors about Khomeini's health started after a Thursday meeting in Qum. "I'm not feeling well," confessed the Ayatullah to his followers. He then launched into a feverish attack on the U.S. Said he: "The U.S. has grabbed our money just like thieves. We should not fall for their propaganda." An aide reported that Khomeini was suffering from a flu virus communicated to him by "various visitors who have come to Qum in that condition." Said one observer: "The Imam has never sounded this bad before...
...exchange himself for the prisoners. Said Ali: "I'm a Muslim, and I am known and loved in Iran." Intrigued, State Department officials suggested that Ali try out his offer on the Iranian embassy in Washington. Pope John Paul II dispatched a personal envoy, Pro-Nuncio Annibale Bugnini, to Qum to meet with Khomeini, but the Ayatullah said he could do nothing unless the U.S. extradited the Shah...
...most of whom were unarmed, chanted anti-American slogans and carried banners: DEATH TO AMERICA IS A BEAUTIFUL THOUGHT and GIVE us THE SHAH. At the very hour at which the demonstration was taking place in Tehran, the Ayatullah Khomeini was telling a student in the holy city of Qum, some 80 miles to the south, that foreign "enemies" were plotting against the Iranian revolution. Repeatedly, he charged that the American embassy in his country's capital was "a nest of spies" and "a center of intrigue...
...interview took place at the Ayatullah's residence in the holy city of Qum and lasted, in all, for about three hours. As a sign of respect for Khomeini, Fallaci decided to wear a chador, the traditional floor-length black veil worn by Muslim women in Iran. "I don't wear blue jeans to interview the Pope," she explained. As it happened, the chador produced the most dramatic moment of the interview. In the midst of several questions about the role of women in an Islamic society, Fallaci charged that the chador was symbolic of the segregation into...