Iran denies supporting al-Qaeda

[cal04]

IRAN acknowledged today that suspected al-Qaeda members involved in the September 11, 2001, attacks may have passed through its territory, but insisted they would have done so "illegally".

"We have very long borders and it is impossible to totally control them," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters.
"It is natural that five of six people could have crossed our borders illegally without us seeing them," he said. "The same thing happens on the border between the United States and Mexico."

Asefi was responding to the September 11 commission report, due out on Thursday in the US, which according to US media reports alleges that Iran may have helped in the attacks by providing eight to 10 al-Qaeda hijackers with safe passage to and from training camps in Afghanistan.

The Iranian government has also responded to past allegations by criticising what it sees as a failure by US troops in Iraq to crack down on the People's Mujahideen, the main Iranian armed opposition group, which Washington considers a terrorist organisation.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,10178354%255E1702,00.html

[Mortos]

1. Doesn't matter

what they say or what the factual evidence is, Iran is next on the Presidents trifecta of terror hit list. If Bush wins re-election prepare for phase two of the neocons plans to reconstruct the middle east.

[nolabels]

2. Yep

Regime change in Iran now in Bush’s sights


By Jenifer Johnston


PRESIDENT George Bush has promised that if re-elected in November he will make regime change in Iran his new target.

Bush named Iran as part of the Axis of Evil along with North Korea and Iraq almost three years ago. A US government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that military action would not be overt in changing Iran, but rather that the US would work to stir revolts in the country and hope to topple the current conservative religious leadership.

The official said: “If George Bush is re-elected there will be much more intervention in the internal affairs of Iran.”

The Iranian government announced this weekend that it had successfully eradicated all al-Qaeda cells operating in the country, but the statement comes as leaked reports from the US September 11 Commission show definite links between Iran and the September 11 terrorists.

The final report from the cross-party inquiry, which is examining the origins of the September 11 attacks, is believed to contain concrete evidence of contacts between al-Qaeda and Iran.
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http://www.sundayherald.com/43461