Iran: Won't Hand Over Al Qaeda Members to U.S.

Reuters ^ | 8/4/03 | Staff

[TastyManatees]

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran said on Monday it would not hand over any detained members of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network to Washington and denied trying to strike a prisoner exchange deal with the United States.

Iran publicly acknowledged for the first time last month that it was holding some senior al Qaeda figures and said it planned to extradite some of them to "friendly countries."

On Saturday the New York Times quoted a U.S. official as saying Washington had approached Tehran with a request to hand over al Qaeda men in Iranian custody, including Saif al-Adel, an Egyptian thought to be al Qaeda's security chief.

The paper said Iran wanted the United States to hand over members of the People's Mujahideen Iranian opposition group, currently under U.S. control in Iraq, in return.

But Iran's government spokesman Abdollah Ramazanzadeh told a news conference on Monday Tehran was not interested in such a deal.

"Iran has never asked for such a swap. We never make deals or act selectively regarding terrorism," he said.

He said al Qaeda members could only be handed over to countries with which Iran had extradition agreements.

"Since last year, identified (al Qaeda) suspects have been extradited to friendly countries with which we have an agreement for extraditing criminals," Ramazanzadeh said. "But we do not have such an agreement with America."

Ramazanzadeh declined to reveal the identity of the al Qaeda members in Iran's custody for "security reasons."

He said that arrested members of al Qaeda who had committed crimes in Iran would be prosecuted by Iranian courts.

[TastyManatees]

This sort of statement sounds eerily familiar. The last time a state sponsor of terrorism made a statement to this effect when they were in possession of Al Qaeda bigwigs...it was Afghanistan.
Tasty Manatees

[CCCV]

Iran said on Monday it would not hand over any detained members of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network
(Shocked look on face) - YOUR KIDDING!... (/sarcasm)
Not a really big suprise to anyone I hope..

[TastyManatees]

Not a big surprise, but it will be interesting to see how this pans out. My guess is that nothing will hapopen, but this Adminsitration has proven me wrong before when I bet against inaction.
Tasty Manatees

[CCCV]

I don't know. The rumblings around Washington about Iran sound a lot like the Iraq rumblings right after the last election. I wouldn't bet on either side of this one. One thing that I would bet on is that Iran is VERY terrorist friendly.
Good article though. Enjoyed reading the "official" line.

[iceskater]

Well, they are on the "Axis of Evil" list. I'm not sure if I were heading up a country on that list that I'd deliberately do something to pi$$ off G.W. This might just push some people's buttons. Not smart, given our troops are just over the border....

[Tai_Chung]

If al-Qaeda is operating their terrorist network out of Iran, we may be forced to attack.

If these al-Qaeda members are no longer in a position of influence, I doubt we'll attack.

[mhking]

Let's see: They'll have nukes within 18 months or so...they won't give us the bad guys they've caught...they don't like us...

Well? Isn't it time for some colorful saber-rattling yet?

[brewcrew]

Iran: "We will not hand over any detained members of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network to you."

GWB: "You're next."

[fortunecookie]

Yawn. Was anybody in Washington really holding their breath over this? (Oooh, I'll bet they say yes to our request.)

[TastyManatees]

Right, their response was expected. Now, the unpredictable part is what we do to get the Al Qaeda bigshots. Their attitude reminds me of the defiant tone of the Taliban, but we'll soon see how the administration feels about hitting number three.
Tasty Manatees