TEHRAN, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- Iranian President Mohammed Khatami described the violence sweeping the holy Shiite city of Najaf as "barbaric" and heartbreaking.
The Iranian News Agency quoted Khatami as telling an audience in Iran's Kurdistan province, "What is happening in Najaf is barbaric and heartbreaking, especially the desecration of Imam Ali mausoleum and the killing of innocent Iraqi civilians."
He accused U.S. forces in Iraq of waging an extermination war against the Iraqi people who want to be free and independent.
"Yesterday they bombarded Fallujah and our brethren from the Sunni sect, and today they are hitting Najaf and the Shiites, and tomorrow it will be the turn of the Kurds," Khatami said.
"They (U.S. forces) do not want Iraq to stand on its feet and to depend on its people regardless of their sects and ethnic groups," he added.
U.S. forces have been battling Shiite gunmen led by radical cleric Moqtada Sadr for more than 10 days.
