Free Republic

An ultra-conservative Iranian cleric who opposes all dialogue with the West is a frontrunner to become the country's next supreme spiritual leader.In a move that would push Iran even further into the diplomatic wilderness, Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah-Yazdi, 71, who publicly backs the use of suicide bombers against Israel, is campaigning to succeed Grand Ayatollah Ali Khameini, 67, as the head of the Islamic state. Considered an extremist even by fellow mullahs, he was a fringe figure in Iran's theocracy until last year's election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a fellow fundamentalist who views him as his ideological mentor. He is...

Hizbullah Leader Nasrallah: Implementing Khomeini's Fatwa against Salman Rushdie Would Have Prevented Current Insults to Prophet Muhammad; Great French Philosopher Garaudy Proved Holocaust a Myth The following are excerpts from speeches by Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah which aired on Al-Manar TV and Al-Jazeera TV on February 2 and 3, 2006. TO VIEW THIS CLIP: http://www.memritv.org/search.asp?ACT=S9&P1=1023 . On Al-Manar TV Hassan Nasrallah: "If any Muslim had carried out the fatwa of Imam Khomeini against the apostate Salman Rushdie, those despicable people would not have dared to insult the Prophet Muhammad – not in Denmark, not in Norway, and not in France....

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee has dug in his heels on winning confirmation of President Bush's most controversial judicial nominees. But beyond his grasp, a group of Democrats and Republicans has been working on a compromise that would allow votes on some nominees and avert a debilitating confrontation. Such a bipartisan deal could undercut Frist's political standing in his remaining months as Senate leader. He's indicated he won't seek another term next year. Vanderbilt University professor Bruce Oppenheimer sees Frist's stance as unusual. Oppenheimer says majority leaders tend to leave themselves room to maneuver, but says Frist has...