http://www.nysun.com/article/58507
Iran Is Found To Be a Lair of Al Qaeda
Intelligence Estimate Cites Two Councils
BY ELI LAKE - Staff Reporter of the Sun
July 17, 2007 (excerpt)
WASHINGTON — One of two known Al Qaeda leadership councils meets regularly in eastern Iran, where the American intelligence community believes dozens of senior Al Qaeda leaders have reconstituted a good part of the terror conglomerate’s senior leadership structure. . .
. . .one of the Shura Majlis for Al Qaeda meets in the federally administered tribal areas of Pakistan, one of the areas the Pakistani army this week re-engaged after a yearlong cease-fire. Both Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, participate in those meetings.
The other Shura Majlis is believed to meet in eastern Iran in the network established after Al Qaeda was driven from Afghanistan in 2001. Following that battle, a military planner trained in the Egyptian special forces, Saif al-Adel, fled to Iran. Mr. Zawahri then arranged with the then commander of Iran’s Quds Force, Ahmad Vahidi, for safe harbor for senior leaders.
The three main Al Qaeda leaders in Iran include Mr. Adel; the organization’s minister of propaganda, Suleiman Abu Ghaith, and the man who some analysts believe is the heir apparent to Mr. bin Laden — one of his sons, Saad bin Laden. The locations of the senior leaders include a military base near Tehran called Lavizan; a northern suburb of Tehran, Chalous; an important holy city, Mashod, and a border town near Afghanistan, Zabul, the draft intelligence estimate says. In 2003, Iran offered a swap of the senior leaders in exchange for members of an Iranian opposition group on America’s list of foreign terrorist organizations, the People’s Mujahadin.
That deal was scuttled after signal intercepts proved, according to American intelligence officials, that Mr. Adel was in contact with an Al Qaeda cell in Saudi Arabia.
In the aftermath of the failed deal, Al Qaeda’s Iran branch has worked closely in helping to establish the group in Iraq. The late founder of Al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, had multiple meetings with Mr. Adel after 2001. In the past year, the multinational Iraq command force has intercepted at least 10 couriers with instructions from the Iran-based Shura Majlis. In addition, two senior leaders of Al Qaeda captured in 2006 have shared details of the Shura Majlis in Iran. . .
” . . . Before Ahmadinejad and party departed Damascus Thursday night, they visited two important Shiite shrines and prayed for victory in the near future. Witnesses heard the Iranian president sobbing loudly.”
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=4429
DEBKAfile Exclusive: Ahmadinejad follows up Damascus talks with a council of war in Tehran Friday with Hizballah, Hamas and Jihadi Islami leaders
July 21, 2007, 4:28 PM (GMT+02:00)
Our Iranian and intelligence sources reveal that the Iranian president flew out of Damascus Thursday with this group saying: “I prefer cooler places but this region faces a torrid summer of victories.”
Aboard his plane were four HIzballlah leaders, Secy-Gen. Hassan Nasrallah, defense chief Imad Mughniyeh, chief of staff Ibrahim Aqil and chief of special operations Unit 1800 Hajj Khalil Harb; and Jihad Islami’s Abdallah Ramadan Shalah and operations chief Zaid Nahle.
Head of Hamas’ Damascus HQ Khaled Meshaal did not join the party flying to Tehran to avoid giving his Saudi and Egyptian friends the impression he was in Iran’s pocket. Either he flew there earlier, or else assigned a Hamas representative based in the Gulf to represent his moement at the council of war in Tehran.
As for Syria’s role, DEBKAfile’s military sources reveal that 20 high-ranking Iranian officers were on the Iran president’s flight to Damascus, headed by defense minister Mustafa Najar. They did not join Ahmadinejad’s talks with Syrian president Bashar Assad. Instead, they were driven to Syrian General Staff headquarters, where they were awaited by Syrian defense minister Gen. Hassan Turkmani, chief of staff Gen. Ali Habib and corps commanders.
Our intelligence sources believe this conference was in fact round one of the council of war which continued in Tehran Friday with Hizballah and Palestinian terrorist chiefs.
The most urgent decision facing the Iran-Syrian alliance concerns Lebanon and how far they can go to get rid of the pro-Western Siniora government in Beirut. Both Iran and Syria understand the United States and France will not stand for its ouster by military or terrorist means. But time is running out. The international tribunal is about to be installed to start hearing the Hariri assassination case and must be stopped before Assad and aides are prosecuted. Tehran and Damascus must decide quickly whether to focus on subversive action inside Lebanon or resort to diversionary tactics such as fomenting trouble against Israel on the Golan, from the Lebanese border or from Gaza.
Before Ahmadinejad and party departed Damascus Thursday night, they visited two important Shiite shrines and prayed for victory in the near future. Witnesses heard the Iranian president sobbing loudly.
DEBKAfile sources refute the Shawq al-Awsat claim Saturday, July 21,that the Iranian president rewarded Assad for abandoning its quest for a peace track with Israel by one billion dollars for arms purchases from Russia and North Korea - plus Iranian backing on Lebanon issues. The arms Iranian-funded arms deals have been in progress since the beginning of this year, long before Ahmadinejad’s Damascus visit.
http://www.debka.com/headline_print.php?hid=4433
DEBKAfile Exclusive: Hizballah’s Nasrallah records war speech from Tehran council of war. Al Jezeera TV bids for tape
July 21, 2007, 4:57 PM (GMT+02:00)
DEBKAfile’s Iranian sources report exclusively that the Hizballah secretary general Hassan Nasrallah whose fiery oratory is a byword in the Arab world, recorded a speech Sat. July 21, in Tehran. He is there secretly with top leaders of his movement to attend a council of war called by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as DEBKAfile revealed exclusively Friday.
Our sources learn that his themes are Lebanon and the Palestinian question and will most likely also include threats to the United States and Israel. The network to air the speech - the Arabic TV Al Jazeera in Qatar, Tehran’s Arabic station, or the Hizballah’s Al Manar which broadcasts from Lebanon – is the subject of intense negotiation. We have learned that Al Jazeera is offering an extra-large fee for exclusive use of the tape, keen to preserve its lead as the preferred platform for top-line radical Muslims, such as al Qaeda big shots. Scheduling will be attuned to the timeline for Hizballah’s military plans.