The Bush administration reiterated its belief today that senior Al Qaeda leaders were in Iran and called on the Tehran government to act against them. “Whether they are there with permission, not with permission, or what, it’s the responsibility of the government to prevent those kind of people from coming to their country,” the State Department spokesman, Richard Boucher, said. In their public remarks today, Mr. Boucher and other administration officials declined to say whether a clear connection had been established between the Qaeda leaders they say are in Iran and last week’s bombing attacks in Saudi Arabia. But the tenor of their comments echoed what other administration officials, speaking privately, have described as deep concern about intercepted communications strongly suggesting that the Qaeda leaders said to be in Iran played a role in directing the bombings in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, that killed 34 people, including 8 Americans. In Tehran, an Iranian spokesman said his government would expel any Qaeda operatives found in the country, but he said Iran had no knowledge that any were there. Full Story
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