Khomeini brings leaders together to end feuding

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini held an extraordinary three-hour meeting with Iran's feuding political and religious leaders and later warned that internal disputes could cost Iran victory in its war with Iraq, or prolong the war. Speaking after the unprecedented summit meeting, the revolutionary and religious leader appealed for an end to discord, "whether in the top echelons or among the masses."

His speech, reported by the state radio, did not give any hint of what formula he might use to defuse an 11- day-old crisis between President Abolhassan Bani-Sadr and the dominant Muslim fundamentalist Islamic Republican Party. Ayatollah Khomeini has come under mounting pressure in recent days to speak out on the dispute, which started with violence at a March 5 political r ally.