IRAN and terrorists

Proud of US precision bombing, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld seemed to be saying of Iran "I've got it on my list! It never will be missed!" Brushing off Iranian denials, Rumsfeld renewed US allegations that al-Qaida figures were operating inside Iran and pointedly warned against giving safe haven to members of "terrorist" groups. "Countries that are harboring those terrorist networks and providing a haven for them are behaving as terrorists by so doing," Rumsfeld told a Pentagon briefing. In the days after last week's bombings in Saudi Arabia, Rumsfeld and White House national security adviser Condoleezza Rice accused Iran of allowing members of al-Qaida to operate from its territory. Iran denied the allegations. "There's no question but that there are al-Qaida in Iran. There's also a good deal of speculation about their role in what took place in Saudi Arabia," Rumsfeld said .Asked about this alleged role, Rumsfeld said: "I know. ... (But) I'm not going to get into it. That's for others to do." Rumsfeld did not state the nature of the evidence that led him to believe al-Qaida operatives were located inside Iran, nor did he name the al-Qaida members he believed were in Iran. Rumsfeld did say, "I have no information that people who engaged physically in terrorist acts in Saudi Arabia have since fled to Iran." Saudi authorities have arrested several suspects who they said were linked to Saudi-born Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network in the aftermath of the coordinated bombings in Riyadh that killed at least 34 people, including eight US citizens. US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, have said that al-Qaida figures in Iran include Saif al-Adel, an Egyptian indicted for conspiracy in the 1998 bombings of two US Embassies in east Africa. One official also said bin Laden's son Saad, who is not considered a top al-Qaida leader, may be in Iran (Reuters, 5/24/03). After the search for WMD in Iraq, the search for al-Quaida terrorists in Iran may begin.

Ronald Hilton - 5/24/03