Sunday, February 11, 2007
Iran arrests top Al Qaeda men
By Khalid Hasan
WASHINGTON: Two Al Qaeda operatives arrested by Iran while they were
on
their way to Iraq began their journey from Pakistan.
Nothing is known about the activities of these two men in Pakistan or
how
long they were there and who was sheltering them. According to a
front-page report in the Washington Post on Saturday, last week the
CIA
sent an urgent report to President Bush's National Security Council
saying
that Iranian authorities had arrested two Al Qaeda operatives
travelling
through on their way from Pakistan to Iraq. The suspects were caught
along
a well-worn route for militants, according to a senior intelligence
official.
"The arrests were presented to Bush's senior policy advisers as
evidence
that Iran appears committed to stopping Al Qaeda's foot traffic across
its
borders," said the intelligence official. That assessment comes at a
time
when the Bush administration is preparing to publicly accuse Tehran
of
cooperating with and harbouring Al Qaeda suspects," said the Post,
adding
that US officials had asserted for years that several dozen Al Qaeda
fighters, including Osama Bin Laden's son, slipped across the Afghan
border into Iran after 9/11, and Tehran was holding them under house
arrest as "bargaining chips" for potential deals with Washington. Some
of
the men being held by Iran are high-value fugitives. Osama Bin Laden's
son
Saad is also being held with other prisoners in Iran.
The report said that since Al Qaeda fighters began streaming into
Iran,
Tehran had turned over hundreds of people to US allies and provided
US
intelligence with the names, photographs and fingerprints of those it
held
in custody.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C02%5C11%5Cstory_11-2-2007_pg1_2
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