Key cleric wants house arrest for Iranian opposition leaders

[oberliner]

Source: Washington Post

TEHRAN - Thousands of government supporters Friday demanded the execution of opposition leaders, but an influential Muslim cleric said they should be placed under permanent house arrest.

The calls came as Iran's opposition movement planned new anti-government demonstrations on Sunday.

During a Friday prayer sermon in Tehran, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati said that prosecuting the opposition leaders was not "expedient" at this time. Instead, he said that former presidential candidates Mehdi Karroubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi must be "cut off" from the world.

"The connection of the heads of sedition with the public must be cut," Jannati told thousands of worshipers. "The doors of their houses must be shut. Their interaction with the outside world must be limited. Their telephone and Internet must be cut. They must be imprisoned in their own houses."

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/18/AR2011021802251.html