The British Are Evil, Top Iranian Cleric Asserts

TEHRAN, July 16 (AFP) - The British are "evil" and Iraqis should distance themselves from them and the Americans, a top hardline Iranian cleric proclaimed Friday.
"The Iraqi people should be careful about the British presence. They are evil and have been well-trained and are experienced in causing divisions," Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati said in a Friday prayer sermon in Tehran.
In his speech, which drew the habitual chants of "Death to America/England/Israel" from worshippers, he also told the new Iraqi government to keep its distance from the United States.
"Sooner or later the Americans will have to leave Iraq. If the interim government wants to be popular, it should keep away from the United States more and more every day," he asserted.
"The Iraqi people are against Israel and the United states," added Jannati, who heads the Guardians Council legislative oversight body.