Aadel Collection
Mullahs Divided: Right-wingers vs. Khomeini (Time)
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IRAN
k u ahs DMded
Right-wingers vs. Khomeini
n less than three years. Iran's tumut
ous revolution has spawned a staggahng
array of problems: civil violence. war kvith
Iraq. economic ruin, international isbb-
Lion. Yet, however untidy their method
the country's ruling clergymen seemed
united in their dedication to establish an
Islamic republic. Now, apparently, that
solidarity is vanishing, if indeed it ever ex-
isted in the first place. Having ruthlessly
eliminated their secular opponents. the
mullahs have lately turned on each other,
arguing over everything from the sacred
(Islamic law) to the profane (the spoils of
political power).
The divisions have pitted Muslim
against Muslim, faction against faction—
and. increasingly, right-wing mullahs
against the revolution'3 leader, the Aya-
tullah Ruhollah Khomeini. Though the
disputes have so far been contained, they
have become worrisome enough to elicit a
pointed warning from Khomeini: “Let no
one doubt that if dissension continues be-
tween groups committed to Islam, it will
spread nationwide and lead to armed
confrontation.”
The clerical battle lines have not been
clearly drawn. But there have been strug-
gles between the Islamic Guards, the cler
gy's private army, and the Friday Prayer
Leaders. Khomeini's personal representa-
tives throughout Iran. And in recent
weeks a number of right-wing clergymen
have agitated publicly for a share of politi-
cal power, now monopolized by the ruling,
Khomeini-backed Islamic Republic Party
(I.R.P.). One source of their discontent:
Khomeini's announcement on Oct. 12
that he was delegating some functions of
the cherished Velayat-e-Faqih (Supreme
Theologian's' Mandate)* to the Majlis
(parliament).
!1( homeini took that step to end a dead-
lock between the parliament and the
“guardian council.” a twelve-member
constitu!onal watchdog committee.
which for religious reasons had blocked
needed reform legislation. Still, his ques-
tionable action offended many right-
wingers. Said one ayatullah: “It is bad
enough that his understanding and appli-
cation of the [ mandatel are faulty and self-
ish. His decision to suspend Islamic law
for political expediency is apostasy. If his
so-called Islamic republic cannot survive
the application of God's law, then there is
something wrong with his system. God
does not make defective laws.”
The fundamentalist challenge is
dangerous for Khomeini, particularly
The founding principle of Khomeini's theocracy
holds that peirding (he return of the promised Shi-
‘ite messiah, the Tweiflhl imam. a supreme theolo-
gian with absolut . powers must lead the Islamic
community.
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because his right-wing critics can outdo
him in blind radicalism and rabble-
rousing.
obr - ”tl ' L dangerous figures growing
an 'gry with him is Sheikh Mahmoud
Halabi. se' entyish leader of a Shilte
purist society. Halabi. says one Iranian
writer, “is so right ing that compared
with him, Khomeini is Karl Marx.” Ha '
labi criticizes the 1.R.P. for its. po1iUèàl
. ç4jjl 1 'iJdeh Party,
iran's pro-Moscow Communists. (The
arrangement is designed to counter op-
position from left-wing Muslims.) And
he calls for a program against “heresy
and atheism.” As for Khomeini's claim
to the Supreme Theologian's Mandate,
Halahi insists it is not binding. Khomei-
ni may have great virtue and theological
scholarship. he says, but “I have re-
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lth meini waving to supporters In Tehran
A challenge by unhappy funda nentahsts.
ceived instructions from the absent
Imam [ the Shi'ite messiah] himself.”
As Iran's troubles deepen, divisions
among the clergy are likely to grow. In an
effort to strengthen their ranks, relative
moderates in the I.R.P. have already be-.
gun to rehabilitate thousands of techno-
crats and politicians the party once
purged for being “pro-Western and liber-
al.” Among them: Mehdi Bazargan, the
revolution's first Prime Minister, now a
member of parliament. Last week, in a se-
cret session of the Majlis, Speaker All Ak-
bar Hashemi Rafsanjani asked his fellow
legislators to spare Bazargan and the oth-
ers from more ridicule. Said he: “These
gentlemen are closer to the Imam [ Kho-
meini] than many of you.” But recourse to
“pro-Westerners” can only alienate the
right-wingers more. And in a nation
further divided, claims of friendship
with the Imam may not mean what they
once did.
SEYCHELLES
f st's Thursday
This must be a coup—oops!
s they boarded their flight in Swazi-
fr ' land last week, the burly young men
in blazers, sports shirts and flannels
looked every inch a South African rugby
club off on a holiday to the Seychelles. the
small (pop. 65.000). sun-drenched chain of
islands off the East African coast. But
soon after they arrived at Mahé's airport,
their vacation plans went abruptly awry.
When a surprised immigration official
discovered a gun in one of the visitors'
bags. the chap's companions whipped out
automatic weapons. Obviously, this was
no ordinary package tour. This was a
coup. and the sportsmen were mercenar-
ies hired to topple the left-wing regime of
President Albert René.
After the mercenaries waged a-20-
hour airport battle with government
forces, the coup collapsed. Forty-four of
the mercenaries escaped by hijacking an
Air India Boeing 707 that had landed dur-
ing the battle: the others were dead. ar-
rested or in hiding. President René
launched a nationwide man hunt and or-
dered all foreigners in the is lands.—in-
cluding visiting U.S. Ambassador William
Harrop—confined to their hotels.
The attackers—mostly said to be for-
mer members ofRhodesian and South Af-
rican army units as well as a few Ameri-
cans, Britons and other Europeans—were
reportedly paid $1,000 and promi ed a
further 510.000 if their mission was suc-
cessful. It was unclear who put up the
money. René. 46, who was established in
I power by a coup in 1977. has plenty ofene-
mies. His Marxist leanings have embit-
tered wealthy islanders and prompted two
previous coup attempts.
This time the mercenaries planned to
infiltrate Mahé after they landed and
stage the coup later in the week, possibly
as the first phase of a bigger operation in-
volving local sympathizers and a back-up
force of other mercenaries. But the prema-
ture shootout left the scheme in shambles
and the first wave of attackers stranded at
the airport—until they captured the con-
trol tower and gave the Air India plane
permission to touch down. The landing
was nearly a disaster: the pilot just missed
a Seychelles army truck parked on the
runway and was forced to hop over anoth-
er. which the plane did brush with a wing
flap. “I'm afraid you have arrived at a
most unfort,,.nate moment. ' one ‘of the
mercenaries told the 79 startled passen-
gers and crew on board as mortar and
machine-gun fire blazed around them.
“You'll just have to wait.' Three hours lat-
er, the surviving soldiers of fortune. carry-
ing the body of a dead comrade. trooped
onto the plane and ordered it to fly to
South Africa. Arrested upon landing at
Durban. they now face prison termsof five
to 30 years for hijacking.
1 S TX( / Pt ‘I — .1
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