TEHRAN, Jan 19: Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has labelled British author Salman Rushdie an apostate whose killing would be authorized by Islam, according to a message carried by Iranian media on Wednesday.

Ayatollah Khamenei's reference to Salman Rushdie was made in a Haj message, and was part of a lengthy tirade against "Western and Zionist capitalists" and the US-led "war on terror".

"They talk about respect towards all religions, but they support such a mahdour al-damm mortad as Salman Rushdie," Ayatollah Khamenei said. In the Shariat, "mortad" is a reference to someone who has committed apostasy by leaving Islam while "mahdour al-damm" is a term applying to someone whose blood may be shed with impunity.

In his Haj message, the full transcript of which was carried by the state news agency IRNA, Ayatollah Khamenei made no further reference to Rushdie. In Feb 1989 Iran's revolutionary founder and Khamenei's predecessor, the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, issued a fatwa calling for Rushdie's execution because of blasphemy and apostasy in his novel, "The Satanic Verses".

Under reformist President Mohammad Khatami, who was elected in 1997, Iran's leadership has distanced itself from the order to kill Rushdie. -AFP