July 24, 2003	Thursday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 23, 1424

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TEHRAN, July 23: Ending weeks of speculation, Iran acknowledged on Wednesday that it was holding senior members of the Al Qaeda network and said it expected to try, deport or extradite them soon.

Intelligence Minister Ali Yunesi gave no names, but said top Osama bin Laden aides were among “many” Al Qaeda members detained by Iranian security forces since the 2001 overthrow of the Taliban government.

“Since the fall of the Taliban, we have arrested a large number of Al Qaeda members, some of whom have been expelled or handed over to their country of origin,” Mr Yunesi said at a press conference.

“We are still holding many others, small and big,” Mr Yunesi said.

Interior Minister Abdolvahed Mussavi Lari said some of the Al Qaeda detainees would be extradited to their home countries while others would be put on trial in Iran.

The rest would be deported to the countries from which they entered Iran, he told the official IRNA news agency.

Diplomats have been saying for weeks that Iran is holding senior Al Qaeda members and has been engaged in secretive and complex negotiations with Egypt, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia about their fate.—AFP