Posted on 07/15/2004 12:23:23 PM PDT by Dog
DUBAI, July 15 (AFP) - Hundreds of alleged members of Al-Qaeda, including 18 of its top leaders, and other terror groups are living in Iran, some under tight security, Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper reported Thursday.
"More than 384 members of Al-Qaeda and other terrorist organisations are present in Iran, including 18 senior leaders of Osama bin Laden`s network," the London-based daily said, citing a senior source in the Iranian presidency.
The Saudi-owned newspaper said the terrorist leaders were living under tight protection, some of them in villas in the Namak Abrud region, near the town of Chalous on the Caspian coast, 100 kilometres (60 miles) north of Tehran.
Others are living in Lavizan, in the north-west of the capital, and which also houses a large military complex, it added.
The report could not be verified in Tehran.
According to the source, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad convinced Tehran, during his visit to Iran early this month, of the "seriousness" of using Al-Qaeda elements in Iran as a card in its policy with the United States.
As a consequence, Tehran handed over wanted Saudi militant Khaled bin Odeh bin Mohammed al-Harbi to the Saudi authorities, the source added.
Riyadh has said the disabled militant, suspected of being an Al-Qaeda figure close to bin Laden, surrendered on Tuesday under an amnesty after contacting the Saudi embassy in Iran.
In 2003, Iran confirmed it was holding senior Al-Qaeda members but refused to identify them. Tehran has said the detainees may stand trial in Iran.
Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi said last month his country had given Saudi Arabia some useful information concerning members of Osama bin Laden`s network that it was detaining.
You bring up a couple of good points here:
"Maybe they are there as a protective force since the Mullahs can't trust their own people.
"And as enforcers for the Scientists to work at double time!
DZ more for your blogs.
Makes it highly unlikely that we could get any decent infiltration.. Al-Queda as an Arabic mercenary Force!
Good find! Thanks for the ping.
Interesting. Also very sharp detective work in connecting the two different stories.
Observations:
The road "north" of the facility is closed in the second image. The road "east" of the facility appears to have been repaved. I cannot discern any real road access to the facility in the second image.
"Northwest" of the central structure in the second image is the remnants of a wall from a building visible in the first image. You can't remove the dirt under a foundation with the foundation still in place. Why even leave the wall, but remove the rest of the building? Strange, but not supportive of hiding NBC contamination. Not discounting the original assertion, just noticing things.
Some original roads inside the facility remain. Others have been removed. Can't decontaminate under a road. I cannot see a pattern in which roads were preserved and which were removed, not plume shaped, not trafficability, no pattern at all. Best I can come up with would be extremely low grade contamination, at random spots throughout the facility. Anyone else?
Bundles, bundles in several locations. Recovered scrap to be sold? Trucking is the easy part. Tearing it out is what takes the time. What are these bundles?
2 things : the facility is underground. They bull-dozed over the surface. According to reports on FOX, they have 'bunker-buster' proof walls. (supposedly)
Also - Lavizan is a military base. That facility is just a small part.
Question what is the population in this area?
jeffers could they have tested a nuclear weapon underground in this area?
A dry run to build a bomb on board. Note the number of suspects 14...safety in numbers .....overwhelm the marshals.
"could they have tested a nuclear weapon underground in this area?"
Not without us knowing about it.
An accident?
No. I don't think so. It's not the only facility this was done at. Seems to be more security/secrecy related. Was done before IAEA inspectors came to town.......
The picture below will illustrate the difficulty in directly answering your question. On the picture, Lavizan, (sounds like a manufacturer of toilets, doesn't it?) is about 3 km East of the tip of the arrow (see scale at the bottom of the photo), which clearly immerses it within the sea of 8.5 million people that comprise the greater metropolitan area of Tehran.
--Boot Hill
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