In an article in today's Saudi-owned London Arabic daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, correspondent 'Ali Nouri Zadeh quoted an Iranian source who said that contrary to Iran's denials, some Al-Qaeda officials had been staying in Iran and had left after the Riyadh bombings. The following are excerpts from the article: The Exodus of Al-Qa'ida Leaders from Iran
"An Iranian source close to the [Revolutionary] Guards leadership revealed the collective exodus of some heads of the Al-Qa'ida organization, following last week's bombings in Riyadh. The source clarified that senior Guards officials had been fired from their sensitive posts after it became clear that they had protected Al-Qa'ida members."
| It's that two-government thing again. The official government plays one way, the ayatollahs play another way... |
"Al-Sharq Al-Awsat was told that Seif Al-Adel, who by some reports was military commander of Al-Qa'ida, Saad bin Laden, and a senior Al-Qa'ida official named Abu Khaled left Iran on Wednesday, May 14, 2003, together with their men, and it is expected that more Al-Qa'ida and Ansar Al-Islam members will depart in the coming days for Afghanistan, at the triple convergence of the borders of Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan."
The Iranian Denial
"Senior American officials said that the orders to carry out the recent terror attacks in Riyadh came from Seif Al-Adel. However, Iran stressed yesterday [May 20, 2003] that it was determined to fight terrorism, particularly Al-Qa'ida. Iranian Foreign Ministry speaker Hamid Reza Asefi told a press conference that there is no harmony between Iran and Al-Qa'ida, and denied the American charges that Al-Qa'ida members were in Iran. According to him, Iran was acting in accordance with its obligations under U.N. resolutions in the event that it encountered Al-Qa'ida members... " | Khatami, for all his faults, seems to be trying to play this game straight, with the exception of Iran's support to Hezbollah. That's been an on-going thing, and it's not to be expected that the Medes and Persians are going to reverse on it quickly. The al-Qaeda links fall into a different category, and his end of the government and the RG/Guardians' Council seem to be working at antagonistic purposes. The RG is making omelettes and not caring about the eggs, while Khatami is bright enough to see that not only is working with Qaeda going to tar Iran with the extreme Islamist brush, but if they should end up winning the Salafists will regard the Shia heresy as its next target. |
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