Posted on 08/11/2003 12:51:22 PM PDT by knighthawk
Tehran, Aug 11, IRNA -- Iran will try those Al Qaeda suspects whose nationality remain unclear as well as those who are rejected by their country of origin, a senior Foreign Ministry official said here Monday.
"If the nationality of some individuals are not known and no country accepts them, as the information minister has said, we will take action ourselves," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters at a weekly news briefing.
Information Minister Ali Younesi said on Saturday that Tehran will put some of the Al Qaeda operatives in Iranian custody on trial instead of allegedly swapping them with senior elements of terrorist opposition Mujahedin Khalq Organization.
Other Al Qaeda members to stand trial in the Islamic Republic are those who are found to have committed crimes in Iran, Asefi said.
"If it is established that some individuals among them have committed crimes in Iran, we will try them according to the country's laws and international commitments," he said.
Asefi refused to name any of those held by Tehran on the suspicion of being linked to Al Qaeda which Washington accuses of masterminding Sept 11, 2001 terror attacks on American landmarks.
"I am not in a position to announce who are among these individuals, but this is a security matter, the publication of which in the media is not expedient," he said.
Asked to confirm whether Kuwaiti-born Al Qaeda spokesman Sulaiman Abu Gaith was in Iran, Asefi said, "This is an invented story which is appealing to certain media, especially in Arab countries.
"The discussions (in Arab and western media about Al Qaeda) do not correspond with the condition of those held in Iran," he added.
Tehran says it has arrested about 500 foreigners on suspicion of links to Al Qaeda so far, with some of them extradited to their country of origin.
Asefi also rejected press reports that Iran sought concessions from certain countries in exchange for extraditing Al Qaeda prisoners.
"This is a false news, invented outside (Iran) about Al Qaeda.
"We are serious in our fight against terrorism and we have turned back many of these individuals or returned them to their own countries," the Foreign Ministry spokesman added.
Asefi turned the table on western governments for being 'not committed to their responsibilities' and for 'supporting terrorist groups and the Zionist regime which is the symbol of state terrorism".
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