TEHRAN A group of foreign guests, who attended ceremonies to marking the 12th departure anniversary of the late Imam Khomeini, hailed the Imam's lofty personality in separate interviews with IRNA on Monday.

An Afghan clergyman Hojjatoleslam Seyed Assadollah Fanaie said Imam Khomeini is respected by the oppressed worldwide as much as he is respected in Iran.

Fanaie said Imam's memory would be kept forever alive in the minds of the world people.

A Dutch Muslim woman residing in Iran Fatemeh Kiarashi told IRNA that Imam Khomeini is a global and great personality and his personality will forever remain alive.

Kiarashi said that before triumph of the 1979 Islamic Revolution she had never imagined that Imam Khomeini would be able to remove the monarchical regime because it seemed the American culture had deeply influenced Iran.

A pilgrim from Malaysia, Mrs. Rahimi Ebrahim, who is a retired teacher, said if Muslim states had a leader like the late Imam Khomeini they would have liberated Palestine from clutches of Zionists and overcome their problems.

Director General of Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA) Khalil Khoury here Monday spoke highly of the exalted character of the late Founder of the Islamic Revolution Imam Khomeini and stressed that the Palestine resistance movement owed much to his teachings.

Khoury who was addressing a ceremony to mark the first anniversary of the liberation of South Lebanon from under the Zionists' occupation said today's developments in Palestine had been inspired by Imam Khomeini's guidance.

A member of Kuwait's Scientific Research Center Mustafa Gholum Abbas spoke highly of the late Founder of Iran's Islamic Revolution Imam Khomeini and shed light on the diverse merits of his lofty character.

Gholum Abbas who was speaking to IRNA, referred to the Imam's success in establishing an Islamic statehood in Iran adding that Imam Khomeini always put extra emphasis on fighting the Zionist regime.