Posted on 10/29/2003 7:20:25 AM PST by blam
Iran refuses to share al-Qaeda data with US
October 29 2003 at 12:33PM
Tehran - Iran said on Wednesday it would not share intelligence with the United States about al-Qaeda members held in Iran despite repeated requests from the American government for it to do so.
"We don't have any relations with American security services so there is no reason to do anything on this issue," government spokesperson Abdollah Ramazanzadeh told a weekly news conference.
US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said on Tuesday that his government was prepared to resume limited contacts with the Iranian government but that relations would not improve until the Iranian administration shared intelligence on al-Qaeda.
The US broke off talks with Iranian officials over Afghanistan and Iraq in May after accusing Iran of sheltering al-Qaeda members suspected of being behind bombings in Riyadh on May 12 that killed 35 people, including nine Americans.
'The Iranians have refused repeated requests to turn over or share intelligence' Iran denies co-operating with al-Qaeda and says it has captured and extradited hundreds of suspected members of Osama bin Laden's network in the last two years.
Iran recently handed over to the United Nations Security Council a list of more than 200 names of al-Qaeda members it has recently extradited to their home countries.
But it refuses to publicly announce details of those al-Qaeda members it still holds in custody, thought to include some senior members of the organisation.
"Despite public statements that they would co-operate with other countries, the Iranians have refused repeated requests to turn over or share intelligence about all al-Qaeda members and leaders they claim to have in custody," Armitage told a Senate committee hearing.
Iran has said it plans to try some of the al-Qaeda members it is holding and will extradite the rest to their countries of origin.
Iran: Check your premises. You're about to die.
Why are we even asking it from them? Just take it.
I just read yesterday that another MOAB test (in the Florida panhandle) is being prepared.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.