WASHINGTON, Jan 10: US President George W. Bush told Tehran on Thursday it must hand over any Al-Qaeda members seeking refuge in Iran and bluntly warned it must not seek to destabilize Afghanistan’s interim government.
“If they in any way shape or form try to destabilize the government, the coalition (waging the US-led war on terrorism) will deal with them, in diplomatic ways initially,” the US president told reporters.
“We would like very much for them to be active participants in a stable Afghanistan. It’s to their advantage,” said Bush.
US officials are reportedly worried that Iran may be using arms shipments and cash in a bid to limit neighboring Afghanistan’s pro-Western tilt and is enlisting members of the Al-Qaeda network in the effort.
Bush sternly declared that this would be unacceptable, saying “either you’re with us or against us, and any nation that thwarts our ability to root terror out where it exists will be held to account one way or the other.”
“We would hope that they (Iran) would continue to be a positive force in helping us bring people to justice. We would hope, for example, they wouldn’t allow Al-Qaeda murderers to hide in their country,” said Bush.
“We would hope that if that be the case, if someone tries to flee into Iran, that they would hand them over to us,” the US leader said.
The New York Times, citing US defense and intelligence officials, reported Thursday that Iran was giving safe haven to “small numbers” of routed Al-Qaeda fighters in hopes they may weaken Western influence in Afghanistan.
And earlier this week, a spokesman for the governor of the Afghan city of Kandahar accused Tehran of interfering in two nearby provinces, charging that an Iranian official brought arms and cash for local commanders.
Iran was a prominent backer of the Northern Alliance which battled the now ousted Taliban from its base in the country’s north before the US-led bombing campaign enabled it to sweep down to Kabul and the rest of the country.
Tehran has staunchly denied as “false and baseless” allegations of cooperation with Al-Qaeda.
“There has been no meeting between Iranian officials and members of the Al-Qaeda network,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi said in a statement on Monday.
ARMS SHIPMENT: The United States said Thursday it had “compelling evidence” that Hezbollah, Iran and senior Palestinian officials were behind in an arms smuggling operation foiled by Israel last week.
And, while Secretary of State Colin Powell said he had not yet seen information that directly implicated Yasser Arafat in the affair, senior US officials said they “strongly suspected” the Palestinian Authority leader was involved.
“The information that we are receiving and developing on our own makes it clear that there are linkages to the Palestinian Authority,” Powell said a day after Israeli intelligence officials briefed their US counterparts on evidence they have collected into the incident. Later, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Washington had also seen evidence of complicity by Iran and Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite militia.
“We think the weight of the evidence is compelling with respect to Iranian and Hezbollah involvement in this arms smuggling operation including in the provision of the weapons and the planning for their delivery,” Boucher said.—AFP