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Bin Laden's Iran alliance
Lebanonwire.com ^ | October 28, 2004 | Richard Miniter

Posted on 10/29/2004 1:50:16 PM PDT by focusandclarity

Osama Bin Laden fled Afghanistan following the battle of Tora Bora in December 2001. He briefly retreated into the Pakistan-controlled portion of Kashmir in January 2002.

By June 2002, bin Laden had reportedly moved south into Baluchistan, a mountainous, autonomous tribal region in western Pakistan. It was a sensible place for him to hide. The Baluch are a nation without a country; their ancestral homeland straddles Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran. It is likely that his confederates have family and friends among the Baluch. A number of high-ranking al Qaeda operatives are ethnic Baluch, including Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and Yousef's uncle, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the operational planner of the September 11 attacks.

The Baluch have a long history of harboring terrorists. Saddam Hussein financed Baluch terrorists against Pakistan as far back as 1969, Iraq expert Laurie Mylroie told me.

In July 2002, Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf announced that he was sending commandos into the tribal areas of Pakistan to flush out bin Laden. If Pakistani troops were quick and thorough, bin Laden would find himself surrounded-and perhaps even betrayed for the $25 million price on his head. Relying on the goodwill of Baluch cutthroats, he must have known, was not a viable long-term strategy.

Seemingly desperate, bin Laden recorded an extraordinary audiotape and sent it via courier to Ali Khomenei, the grand ayatollah of Iran's Supreme Council. On that tape, according to a former Iranian intelligence officer I interviewed in Europe, bin Laden asked for Iran's help. In exchange for safe harbor and funding, he pledged to put al Qaeda at the service of Iran to combat American forces in Afghanistan and in Iraq, where al Qaeda leaders believed American intervention was inevitable. Bin Laden reportedly pledged, "If I die, my followers will be told to follow you [Khomenei]."

Apparently the taped appeal worked. Murtaza Rezai, the director for Ayatollah Khomenei's personal intelligence directorate, began secret negotiations with bin Laden. Under the agreement between the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and al Qaeda, several convoys transported bin Laden's four wives, as well as his eldest son and heir apparent, Saad bin Laden, into Iran. Saad reportedly remains there today.

Then, on July 26, 2002, bin Laden himself crossed into Iran from the Afghanistan border near Zabol, traveling north to the Iranian city of Mashad.

Over the next year, bin Laden holed up in a series of safe houses controlled by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard between Qazvin and Karaj, two cities along a highway west of Teheran. He moved frequently to avoid detection or betrayal. He was not alone. Two intelligence sources told me bin Laden was "guarded by the Revo-lu-tionary Guard."

Bin Laden also traveled with al Qaeda's number two man, Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, who was wounded and required medical treatment, my sources said. For a time, bin Laden moved freely with and crossed into Afghanistan at will, usually through an Iranian border checkpoint near Zabol?.

Why would Iran, a predominantly Shi'ite Muslim land, work with a predominantly Sunni Muslim terror organization like bin Laden's? The short answer is personal connections, shared goals, and a common enemy. Ayman al-Zawahiri, a bona fide Sunni extremist, has received financial support from Iran since 1988. Bin Laden himself is believed to have met with Iranian intelligence officials at Islamic conferences in Khartoum, Sudan, in the early 1990s. Both bin Laden and the mullahs share an Islamist worldview that calls for the armed overthrow of Arab dictatorships and the restoration of a single caliph who will rule according to Shari'a law.

Finally, they share enemies, including many Arab leaders, the United States, and the rest of the Western world.

Whether the Sunni-Shi'ite divide is as wide among radical Islamists as some analysts say, few can dispute that Iran's increasing isolation and the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq has provided Teheran with a strong incentive to seek out new allies.

Bin Laden is not the only senior al Qaeda member who has reportedly sought sanctuary. Saad bin Laden is believed to be hiding in the western city of Kermanshah, hard on the Iraq border. Saif al-Adel, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed's successor as commander of al Qaeda's military wing, is also said to be there...

Administration officials expect bin Laden will most likely be captured in Pakistan. Yet policymakers would be wise to turn their attention to Iran's documented links to global terrorist networks, including bin Laden's. With vast oil revenues, a long history of supporting terrorists, and a fathomless desire to achieve its ideological aims at the expense of American lives, it certainly deserves its place on President Bush's "Axis of Evil."

Richard Miniter is also the author of "Losing Bin Laden: How Bill Clinton's Failures Unleashed Global Terror."


TOPICS: News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: binladen; iran; losingbinladen; osamabinladen; pakistan; richardminiter; southasia; southwestasia; terrorism
And some said Osama bin Laden was dead.
1 posted on 10/29/2004 1:50:17 PM PDT by focusandclarity
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To: focusandclarity

Sounds like an invitation to bomb Iran.


2 posted on 10/29/2004 1:51:39 PM PDT by stopillegalimmigration
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To: focusandclarity

BTTT


3 posted on 10/29/2004 1:52:08 PM PDT by Stellar Dendrite (They should rename it to World Hugh instead of World Series!!!!)
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To: focusandclarity

If true, then this is fascinating. For it places bin Laden in a nation which is contiguous with the Trans Caucasian region. Wow .... WOW!


4 posted on 10/29/2004 2:00:31 PM PDT by GOP_1900AD (Stomping on "PC," destroying the Left, and smoking out faux "conservatives" - Right makes right!)
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To: stopillegalimmigration
Sounds like an invitation to bomb Iran.

invitation? invitation!? we don't need no stinkin' invitation....

5 posted on 10/29/2004 2:02:15 PM PDT by mlocher (america is a sovereign state)
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To: Dog; Coop; Cap Huff; AdmSmith; jeffers; nuconvert; Ragtime Cowgirl
Ping...

"Why would Iran, a predominantly Shi'ite Muslim land, work with a predominantly Sunni Muslim terror organization like bin Laden's? The short answer is personal connections, shared goals, and a common enemy. Ayman al-Zawahiri, a bona fide Sunni extremist, has received financial support from Iran since 1988. Bin Laden himself is believed to have met with Iranian intelligence officials at Islamic conferences in Khartoum, Sudan, in the early 1990s. Both bin Laden and the mullahs share an Islamist worldview that calls for the armed overthrow of Arab dictatorships and the restoration of a single caliph who will rule according to Shari'a law."

"Finally, they share enemies, including many Arab leaders, the United States, and the rest of the Western world."

"Whether the Sunni-Shi'ite divide is as wide among radical Islamists as some analysts say, few can dispute that Iran's increasing isolation and the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq has provided Teheran with a strong incentive to seek out new allies."

--Boot Hill

6 posted on 10/29/2004 2:28:39 PM PDT by Boot Hill (Candy-gram for Osama bin Mongo, candy-gram for Osama bin Mongo!!!)
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To: focusandclarity

Miniter makes this point in more detail in his new book called "Shadow War: The Untold Story of How Bush is Winning the War on Terror." I just finished it and thought it was a great read!


7 posted on 10/29/2004 2:59:04 PM PDT by Heuristic Hiker
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To: Boot Hill

I honestly didn't finish reading this article. My question from the first sentence was "Says who?" Why would I believe what this guy says? (Nothing personal against him - just asking.)


8 posted on 10/29/2004 5:20:22 PM PDT by Coop (In memory of a true hero - Pat Tillman)
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To: Coop
8 “My question from the first sentence was "Says who?" Why would I believe what this guy says?”

Well, you have to make up your own mind on that, but here's some info that might help.

Richard Miniter is the author of:
Shadow War: The Untold Story of How Bush is Winning the War on Terror   2004
Losing bin Laden: How Bill Clinton's Failures Unleashed Global Terror   2003

Here is what his bio says about him...

A veteran investigative journalist, he was a member of the award-winning Sunday Times (of London) investigative team whose four-part series traced the secret war between Clinton and bin Laden.

He appears regularly on television and radio to discuss al Qaeda and global terrorism. He has appeared every major American cable news network including, CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC. He has appeared on "The O'Reilly Factor," "Hannity and Colmes," "Hardball with Chris Mathews," "Special Report with Brit Hume," among others. In addition, he has been a featured guest on more 300 talk radio shows, including talk giants Sean Hannity, G. Gordon Liddy, Jim Bohannon, Alan Colmes, and Laura Ingram. Rush Limbaugh has repeatedly cited Miniter's work.

Miniter's Losing bin Laden has been cited on NBC's "Meet the Press," when host Tim Russert read from the book and questioned former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

Miniter has won awards from the National Press Club and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. He has also won the Felix Morley Prize, an international journalism award given by the Institute for Humane Studies. In 2001, he was runner-up for "best business journalist of the year."

Formerly, Miniter was an editorial page writer at The Wall Street Journal Europe and a columnist for The Wall Street Journal's OpinionJournal.com.

He has written for The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Christian Science Monitor as well as The Atlantic Monthly, The New Republic, National Review, Reason and Reader's Digest.

His first book, entitled The Myth of Market Share (Random House/ Crown Business, 2002), has been translated into Spanish, Italian, Chinese and Hebrew. A Washington Post reviewer wrote that "Every top executive should be required to read the Myth of Market Share."

In 1996, Miniter was executive producer of "Enterprising Women," a weekly radio series distributed on more than 100 public radio stations across America. The program was hosted by award-wining news anchor Christy Brown. The New York Post called Miniter's series "the radio equivalent of a female Forbes magazine" and CNN hailed it as "inspirational."

He graduated from Vassar College with a degree in philosophy. Currently, he divides his time between Brussels, Belgium and Washington, D.C.

--Boot Hill
9 posted on 10/29/2004 5:45:06 PM PDT by Boot Hill (Candy-gram for Osama bin Mongo, candy-gram for Osama bin Mongo!!!)
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To: Boot Hill
Yeah, I knew he wrote the book. And I appreciate the detailed bio. But I guess I just see stuff like this which comes across as intelligent opinion, but with no real data to support it. Perhaps the data is in his book, which I have not read, or buried further down in the article (which I didn't finish).

So it may well just be me, but the author didn't sell me up front that what he was saying was legit.

10 posted on 10/29/2004 6:37:07 PM PDT by Coop (In memory of a true hero - Pat Tillman)
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To: Coop
"I guess I just see stuff like this which comes across as intelligent opinion, but with no real data to support it."

That's how I took his article, as intelligent (or informed) opinion.

--Boot Hill

11 posted on 10/29/2004 7:03:24 PM PDT by Boot Hill (Candy-gram for Osama bin Mongo, candy-gram for Osama bin Mongo!!!)
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To: oceanview
I thought you might find this article particularly interesting.

--Boot Hill

12 posted on 10/29/2004 7:10:11 PM PDT by Boot Hill (Candy-gram for Osama bin Mongo, candy-gram for Osama bin Mongo!!!)
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To: Boot Hill

I have Said in Iran as well, working with Pasdaran and intel handlers for over 2 years now, pulling off multiple bombings in SA with explosives supplied by Iran.

FWIW.

Weren't we reading Iran's mail off the intel circuit a while back?


13 posted on 11/02/2004 5:53:42 PM PST by jeffers
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