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2007-03-16 International-UN-NGOs
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Iran to Appeal Interpol Arrest 'Notices'
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PARIS (AP) - Interpol said Thursday it would issue ``red notices'' for the arrests of five prominent Iranians and a Lebanese militants wanted in Argentina's worst terror attack. Iran said it would appeal the decision.
Argentina is seeking the Iranians in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires. Eighty-five people were killed and 200 were wounded when a van pulled up outside the seven-story building and exploded. Argentine prosecutors allege the attack was orchestrated by leaders of the Iranian government and entrusted to the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah. Interpol said Thursday it would help Argentina seek the six arrests, but turned down the country's request for assistance in pursuing three other former top Iranian officials, including former President Hashemi Rafsanjani. A challenge from Iran would effectively put the process on hold.
Mohsen Baharvand, the top Iranian diplomat in Argentina as its business attache, said Iran would argue in its appeal that the United States had applied political pressure in the case. ``The decision of Interpol is not acceptable for Iran,'' Baharvand told The Associated Press by telephone in Buenos Aires.
The Lyon, France-based international police agency said it would issue ``red notices'' for the six on March 31, unless either Iran or Argentina challenged the decision. A red notice means a suspect is wanted for possible extradition. It cannot force countries to arrest or extradite suspects, but people with red notice status appear on Interpol's equivalent of a most-wanted list. If Iran goes forward with an appeal, no red notices will be issued, and the matter could go before Interpol's general assembly in November, Interpol said.
Both Iran and Argentina are member countries of Interpol, whose executive committee ruled on the case after taking into account input from both countries. ``Both parties have been treated fairly and impartially by Interpol,'' Interpol President Jackie Selebi said in a statement.
The six people targeted with red notices are former Iranian intelligence chief Ali Fallahian; Mohsen Rabbani, former cultural attache at the Iranian Embassy in Buenos Aires; former diplomat Ahmad Reza Asghari; Mohsen Rezaei, former leader of the elite Revolutionary Guards; Ahmad Vahidi, a general in the Revolutionary Guards; and Hezbollah militant Imad Moughnieh, one of the world's most sought-after terror suspects. A Lebanese national, Moughnieh is wanted for his alleged role in the kidnapping of Westerners in Lebanon in the 1980s, and suicide attacks on the U.S. Embassy and a U.S. Marine base in Lebanon that killed more than 260 Americans. His whereabouts are unknown.
Interpol denied Argentina's request for red notices for Rafsanjani, former Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati and the former ambassador of Iran in Buenos Aires, Hadi Soleimanpour. The agency did not explain its decisions, but said red notices were not an indication of the strength or weakness of a case against a person.
Luis Grynwald, head of the Jewish center in Buenos Aires, which was rebuilt after the attack, hailed Interpol's involvement. ``This shows that the Iranian regime has to cooperate in efforts to clarify this attack and not impede the search for the truth,'' he said. 
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Posted by Steve 2007-03-16 09:02||
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Posted by abu do you love 2007-03-16 12:09||
2007-03-16 12:09||
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Posted by Bobby 2007-03-16 12:24||
2007-03-16 12:24||
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Posted by USN, Ret. 2007-03-16 14:10||
2007-03-16 14:10||
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