Iran Says No al-Qaida Chiefs Detained
There are no senior members of al-Qaida in detention in Iran, the country’s state-run radio reported Monday. “Iran has detained a number of al-Qaida members, but the detainees are not senior members of the group,” the radio quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi as saying. The United States accused Iran last week of harboring senior al-Qaida members, including the group’s security chief, Saif al-Adil; Osama bin Laden’s son, Saad; and Abu Musab Zarqawi, the operational commander whom Washington accuses of ties to ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Asefi did not give any other details about the al-Qaida detainees. Nor did he say where and when they were arrested. Full Story