Khatami congratulates Turkish leader

Tehran, June 18 - Iranian President Mohammad Khatami on Tuesday congratulated his visiting Turkish counterpart, Ahmet Necdet Sezer, on his country's "beautiful victory" over Japan at the world cup. "It's a beautiful victory," a clapping Khatami told Sezer in front of reporters ahead of a ceremony at the Saad Abad palace in the north of the capital to mark the end of his two-day visit. Sezer responded with a big smile and by raising his hands over his head. The leaders were not able to watch Turkey down Japan 1-0 because of their talks, but were kept up to date on the scoring.