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| Iraq |
| Iran denies shelling Ansar positions... |
| 2003-02-09 |
| Iran Sunday denied reports that it had shelled positions of the Ansar al-Islam, an Iraqi Kurdish rebel group accused of links with al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. "This report is false, even though the government of the Islamic republic disapproves of the Ansar," said foreign ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi. Guess they didn't hit anything... The Ansar is a "suspect organization" but Iran "does not engage in punitive actions against groups based abroad", said Asefi. Sources in northern Iraq had told AFP that the Iranian army shelled Ansar positions on Wednesday night ahead of a Thursday deadline set by Britain and the United States. A deadline. I like deadlines... The group, a hardline breakaway from the longstanding Islamic Movement of Iraqi Kurdistan, controls a small pocket of territory in the mountains above the town of Halabja, close to the Iranian border. The territory lies outside the no-fly zone over northern Iraq patrolled by British and US warplanes since the aftermath of the 1991 Persian Gulf war, but the Western allies had reportedly warned Iran that they would mount air strikes against the Ansar if it failed to act. So if the Medes and Persians didn't shell them, that means we should just go ahead and whack the bastards, right? |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #2 Ansar's ducked over the border before. However, if Iran is serious...
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| Posted by: Chuck 2003-02-09 20:52:17 |
| #1 Where will Ansar flee to when the U.S. or U.S. backed Kurdish forces come into the area? Iran will not want to be seen as being a haven for fleeing terrorists (again). Neither will Syria. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-02-09 19:33:48 |