November 23, 2002	Saturday	Ramazan 17, 1423

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TEHRAN, Nov 22: Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appealed on Friday for unity among the country’s rival political camps, but denounced a wave of university protests sparked by the sentencing to death of a pro-reform academic.

“The people need unity and efforts by all to develop the country, notably through research at universities and the struggle against corruption,” he said in a sermon delivered to hundreds of thousands of faithful gathered for Friday prayers.

“While the country needs the young students and the universities to concentrate on science and research, suddenly a group finds a pretext and tries to prevent the university students and researchers from carrying out their normal work,” Khamenei said. —AFP