Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, brushing off Iranian denials, on Tuesday renewed U.S. allegations that al Qaeda figures were operating inside Iran and pointedly warned against giving safe haven to members of “terrorist” groups.
“Countries that are harboring those terrorist networks and providing a haven for them are behaving as terrorists by so doing,” Rumsfeld told a Pentagon briefing. In the days after last week’s bombings in Saudi Arabia, Rumsfeld and White House national security adviser Condoleezza Rice accused Iran of allowing members of al Qaeda to operate from its territory. Iran denied the allegations. “There’s no question but that there are al Qaeda in Iran. There’s also a good deal of speculation about their role in what took place in Saudi Arabia,” Rumsfeld said on Tuesday. Asked this alleged role, Rumsfeld said: “I know. … (But) I’m not going to get into it. That’s for others to do.” Full Story
