Khomeini Makes Offer to Minority Sect: Proposal Would Give Sunnis Equal Status With Shias

          
          Frwn ih Lwdw Duly ph
          L ltkN ln one of his most con
          story gesturcs since the Iranian
          ie o u ion, the Aya ollah H ho oh
          omei i, echo and Sunday a pro
          pn m1 rhange n ih 0 efmcututijn itint
          ices! give S nni Must ma equa at”
          tOn with the country's mao 10 Shia
          commui to,
          1 t there w s mixed react on from
          Sane coders 10 Khomeini offer to
          have the “orstitu ion amcndcd by a
          re ercndum,
          MowS v A d auto religious cadet
          of 500000 members f ihc ' Sunsi Ba
          lucks sect in Balc 'sistan p evince
          sit drew a ear icr th eat t iat a
          fo owers would boycott the nation
          firs president a! election on Fr day
          uiless his demands for constituoonal
          and ot 'ie charges were met ‘There
          or an as imated I million Baluchis in
          Iran,
          lOut there was a muc coo er re
          cponse from Sheik Earedin Husseini,
          pelitica and religious leader of be
          tween 3 i v llio 'i and 5 million Sunr
          Eards, c c o are demanding autonomy
          from he cc itral authorities in Tehran
          and the shrine city of Qom
          “The chaages proposed by the iman
          I chomc nil a e cosnetic, Husse “a
          said They are sot basic changes In
          an “dan, be charg ”a proposed are
          “ic, mine. I do “iot agree with then.'
          I e amendment to the slaivic con
          stitution would “how Sunni Muslims
          o have ii i v own co rts ard tribu
          ala in regions where they prcdomin
          ate over mom ers a the Sh a sect
          Th-' g arante” of Su i minori y
          rights was dropped from the original
          draft of the constit tion that de e-
          Son has been a major muse of unrest
          among the Kurdish, Turhoman and
          Baluchi minorities
          Before ‘mmcmi a approval of a
          constitutiona amendment, Hussein
          had den mmd tha the Kurds would
          not participate the residential eke
          tion
          Asked Sunday whe her the Kurds
          w uld boycot h' presidert al dec
          tien, Huaaeini replied' “The imam said
          that those who have not voted posi-
          t vely for the censt tu ion have no
          righ o be dcc ed president. There
          fore, we take this to mean that t ose
          who have not voted for the constitu
          lion have no right to vote in the pres
          ide ” i ial election either. The implica
          two, s agree is tiiat we w ii boycott
          the po s He said a formal statement
          wou d be is aed today
          The first call for a boycott wan
          made af er Massud Rajavi candidate
          of the left wing Mujahedeen organi
          zation and the favorite candidate ef
          Sunnis was disqualified by Khomeini
          ruled Saturday that candidates who
          had net voted for the ratificatior of
          the constitution in last month's refer
          enduin had no rght to be elected
          presidert. This was a c ear reference
          to Rats i whose group boycotted the
          referendum
          In an unexpectedly cone iatory
          statement Surday, the Mujahedeen
          organization urg d its uppor “ra
          espec ally in Kurdistan, to show re
          straint
          Tb prop ned co5st tutional
          ante idnert follows a visit by lbrahim
          Vazd farmer foreign m n,s,er, i I ,e
          Ba ehi capital of Zahedan ast
          m nih, f or an outbreak of Shia
          Sunni fightirg ,n which at least 20
          people were killed and scores ojured
          Yazdi wac recently sent by
          Khomeini to the gulf pert of Bandar
          Lengeh, where Shia 'Sanni fighting
          eft at east 50 dead s nd 60 injured.
          In a letter to Khom mi, Yandi said i
          “As you are an are, the Sunnis are
          unhappy about many aopects o the
          constit lien
          One of them, Article 12, which
          makes Shia Islam the efficia re igion
          of Iran says ‘The official religion of
          Iran is Is a ir. Tb s princ pIe a eternal
          aiid uiichaiig,rable.”
          Yazd said Sunni eaclers, no ably
          bbd laaiz, had suggested that an ad
          dillon b made ci Artic 12 “0th r
          Islamic ret gtous minorities
          should b ye legal status in areas
          where they are in a majority. A so
          the law and criminal courts in these
          areas should be based on the religious
          beliefs of these minorities, a though
          he rights of other religious win rities
          should be guarante ci”
          Yazdi said that Khorreni had given
          h a agreement in principle to the
          amendment and that h d a so been
          approved by the Revolutionary
          Council.
          K anae n Makes Offer to Mhiority Sect: Propossil W'oWd Che Sunnis Equsil Status With Shias
          I n v ls I lint (1123 C art en! I'rls); It n “1 °S
          rcQ stttst, slI ', sss 'tp is Lcs n el slim s ISSI 1 51 )
          pg 1
          Proposa WouM Give Sunrns Equa' Status With Sh as
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