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| Iraq |
| Iran slams door on Ansar al-Islam |
| 2003-03-29 |
| As the leader of the Kurdistan Socialist Democratic Party, Muhammad Hagi Mahmud, whose party controls Iraqi territory near Iran's border, revealed on Monday that Iran refused to let wounded members of the Ansar al-Islam enter its territory to receive medical services last Saturday. They were wounded after US forces reportedly launched 100 Tomahawk missiles on their base. Iran's denial to an Iraqi Kurdish group with a Taliban-style extremist Islam ideology indicated its efforts to prevent the expansion to Iran of the American war on Iraq by denying the Americans a possible excuse to attack Iran for helping a "terrorist" group, said Asian Times. And maybe by now they've gotten sick and tired of them... Iran denied medical care to the wounded Ansar fighters despite its setting up two field hospitals close to the Iranian city of Marivan neighboring Iraqi Kurdistan. The Bashmaq and Molakhor hospitals are equipped to treat Iraqi Kurds injured in the ongoing war. Reportedly, the Iranian authorities excluded the Ansar members from the Kurds eligible to receive treatment even prior to the mentioned episode. To help the Iraqi Kurds access to the two hospitals, the Iranian government has made arrangements with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), one of the two major armed Kurdish groups in control of Iraqi Kurdistan. Those hospitals have reportedly provided medical services to about 100 Kurdish civilians wounded during American air strikes over the past few days. That's nice of them... The Iranian government has repeatedly denied any link with the Ansar al-Islam over the past few months, during which time the American government has accused the group of cooperating with al-Qaeda in its attempts to link Iraq to terrorist activities. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #4 surely they only did this because they hate kurds. after all, officials in Iran would LOVE the fact that they're rabid islamists. |
| Posted by: anon1 2003-03-30 07:30:42 |
| #3 Iran is CLEARLY getting the message. Ever see the film, The Professional? The drug king gets a call from one of his stooges, who has a gun at his head. The drug king asks the stooge what the guy looks like. Stooge: "Serious." That's how we're starting to look to a lot of people now... Serious. |
| Posted by: R. McLeod 2003-03-30 05:28:20 |
| #2 Iran's denial to an Iraqi Kurdish group with a Taliban-style extremist Islam ideology indicated its efforts to prevent the expansion to Iran of the American war on Iraq by denying the Americans a possible excuse to attack Iran for helping a "terrorist" group, said Asian Times. Hmmmmmmmm? Might someone be getting the message? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-03-29 23:29:04 |
| #1 Proof that even an old dog can learn new tricks |
| Posted by: Someone who did NOT vote for William Proxmire 2003-03-29 20:31:20 |