Ayatollah Khomeini's grandson praises US

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• published: 23 Jul 2015
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August 6, 2003 1. Interior set up shot of the Ayatollah entering living room and sitting down on a futon 2. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ayatollah Sayyid Hussein Khomeini, Grandson of the late Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini "As an Iranian, I see it as a liberation from oppression and dictatorship and tyranny which was never known before in history. This was their salvation from their suffering which harmed the Iraqi people." 3. Khomeini reading the Koran 4. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ayatollah Sayyid Hussein Khomeini, Grandson of the late Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini "We want the two nations (Iran and Iraq) to interact and to be brothers. We would like to see freedom, law and order and the return of basic necessities and services and democracy in Iraq. Once that's done, these problems will come to an end. We also need the same thing in Iran. We need to establish freedom in Iran in the same way that it is in Iraq, God willing." 5. Khomeini reading the Koran 6. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ayatollah Sayyid Hussein Khomeini, Grandson of the late Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini "What we need, God willing, is a flourishing future and the Iraqis should be optimistic they should not be in a state where they do not know what to do. The former regime is gone. For 35 years, they had no way out of it but that which happened (meaning the liberation) and there is a good chance for a promising future for Iraq and we hope that will be. Some might have a psychological problems because they feel as if the Americans are occupiers or invaders in the country. No on the contrary, the Americans need the Iraqis and the Iraqis are still the masters of their own country." August 5, 2003 7. Wide shot of news conference at Baghdad Convention Centre 8. SOUNDBITE (English) Charles Heatly, Coalition Provisional Authority spokesman "He has a very interesting perspective in his view of, as I say, primarily the importance of the division of religion and the state. He has some very useful ideas and useful advice which we have listened to, particularly on a private level by some members of the coalition who have met with him." 9. Journalists at news conference STORYLINE The grandson of the man who built the Islamic revolution in Iran by attacking the United States and its values as the great satan says the US has liberated Iraq and delivered its people from tyranny. Sayyid Hussein Khomeini, the grandson of the late Iranian leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, was speaking in an exclusive television interview with APTN in Baghdad on Wednesday. The younger Khomeini also believes in the rebuilding of relations between Iran and Iraq and says he wants the same kind of freedom to take root in Iran as it has in Iraq. He says he's optimistic about the future of Iraq, despite its current problems, and wants Iraqis to view the Americans as liberators, not occupiers. The younger Khomeini has been staying in Iraq since July, when he crossed into the country and made his way to Baghdad. He says he's in Iraq to establish a new Hawza or Shiite seminary movement in Karbala, and has spent much time there and in the holy Shiite city of Najaf. He claims he's at risk of assassination by Iranian agents sent to kill him. What his role will be in the future of Iraq is still unclear, but a coalition spokesman said he had "an interesting perspective" on the separation of religion and state. Charles Heatly also said Khomeini had some "very useful ideas and useful advice". You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/c424029a48d84cfd67263a26bb8effe5 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork