Posted on 02/17/2002 9:08:45 PM PST by ex-Texan
Bin Laden's No 2 'captured in Iran'
Rory McCarthy in Islamabad and Luke Harding in Kabul
Osama bin Laden's most senior lieutenant, the Egyptian militant Ayman al-Zawahiri, has been captured and jailed in Tehran, a leading Iranian newspaper reported yesterday. Zawahiri, the founder of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, was arrested several days ago and has been imprisoned in the city's Evin jail, where political prisoners are usually held, the Hayat-e-Nou newspaper said.
If the report is correct, the arrest is the most serious strike at the heart of Bin Laden's al-Qaida network since the World Trade Centre attacks, and a diplomatic coup for Tehran.
The FBI has Zawahiri on its most-wanted list in connection with the August 1998 bombings of two US embassies in east Africa in which 224 people were killed. It has offered a $25m reward for information leading to his capture.
The Farsi-language paper gave few details yesterday about the arrest and no indication of the source of its information. The paper is regarded as reliable and is run by Hadi Khamenei, a leading legislator and the brother of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
But Iran's foreign ministry said last night. "The news that has been published in the Hayat-e-Nou newspaper is not true. We deny it," Hamid Reza Asefi, a foreign ministry spokesman, said.
In Kabul the interim government said many al-Qaida and Taliban fighters had crossed into Iran but it had no information on Zawahiri. "We are not aware that a person of al-Zawahiri's stature has been arrested," foreign ministry spokesman Omar Samad said.
Zawahiri, 50, who wears thick spectacles and a long, dark beard, is regarded as Bin Laden's closest ally. He has been living with him in Afghanistan for several years and often served as his personal doctor. In an interview in June last year, Bin Laden said he had merged Zawahiri's Islamic Jihad with al-Qaida.
In December, Afghan commanders involved in the attacks on Tora Bora in eastern Afghanistan said they believed Zawahiri had recently been at the camp. His wife and three daughters were later reported to have died in a US bombing raid, although it was thought Zawahiri was not with them at the time.
Washington has criticised Tehran for allowing al-Qaida and Taliban fighters to slip across its border and Iran was named by George Bush as one of three "axis of evil" countries.
Email luke.harding@mantraonline.com
Osama bin Laden's most senior lieutenant, the Egyptian militant Ayman al-Zawahiri, has been captured and jailed in Tehran, a leading Iranian newspaper reported yesterday.
Oh NO!!! I thought Iran was the "axis of evil"!!! I thought they had to be bombed into the stone age!!! The president's warbuddy advisors and the president said so!!!
(Truth is, they have been cooperating all along with the war on terror. The evidence is overwhelming. The public mood was initially suggested by the thousands of Iranians who turned out in the streets afte 9/11 to demonstrate AGAINST those who attacked us. But Americans seem to have a bad memory or bad reasoning ability.)
If true, President's Bush's Evil Axis speech coupled with many really big sticks which have been used in Afghanistan have had the desired effect in Iran re it's fanatics posing as religious mullahs!
Iran denies apprehending Bin Laden's assistant
Tehran, Feb 17, IRNA -- Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamidreza Asefi here Sunday rejected a Sunday's press report that an assistant to Osama Bin Laden has been apprehended in the Islamic Republic.
The Persian 'Hayat-e No' daily reported Sunday that a leading al-Qaeda member Iman Al-Zawaheri has been detained in Iran.
Asefi's remarks follows US allegations of Iran's interference in Afghanistan and its help and support for al-Qaeda fugitives which have all been rejected by the Islamic Republic.
Iran said on Thursday it has arrested some 150 infiltrators with Arab, African and European nationalities as suspected members of Taliban and al-Qaeda organization at its eastern borders with Afghanistan.
AA/AH
End
WTG President Bush!
Oh NO!!! I thought Iran was the "axis of evil"!!! I thought they had to be bombed into the stone age!!! The president's warbuddy advisors and the president said so!!! (Truth is, they have been cooperating all along with the war on terror. The evidence is overwhelming. The public mood was initially suggested by the thousands of Iranians who turned out in the streets afte 9/11 to demonstrate AGAINST those who attacked us. But Americans seem to have a bad memory or bad reasoning ability.)
Oh, come on. Your reasoning ability is usually quite a bit better than this.
I’m sure you are aware that there is a power-struggle within Iran between the younger generation, who craves a democratic and free society, and the older, religious leaders, who still hold most of the power and favor a strict fundamentalism. It is those leaders, with their not-so-secret financial and logistical support for terrorism, that Bush was referring to.
Obviously, Bush’s inclusion of the country in his “axis of evil” was his attempt to bolster the “good guys” in Iran’s internal power struggle.
But, you knew that, and just felt like over-simplifying things to attempt to slam Bush. Personally, I think he’s playing the Iranian chess game perfectly.
BUMP to that! All of those idiot Democrats who have said it was a mistake to label these countries the Axis of Evil have egg on their face right now.
If this report is true it means they (should) have or know the whereabouts of OBL as well. Another said it best. The Axis of Evil speech was a courageous act of leadership and we mean business.
Let's Roll.
Of course, this post itself could be a psyops effort too.
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