Iran said it would not reveal the names of top al-Qaeda suspects in custody here, adding that a list of names it had given to the UN Security Council covered only members of the group already extradited. “Regarding the people who are in Iran, the Islamic republic prefers not to disclose their names because of the security issues,” foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters on Sunday. When asked if some of the detainees could be classed as high-ranking — confirmed several months ago by other officials — Asefi replied: “What I know is that there are a number.” On Saturday, state media reported that Iran had finally revealed to the UN Security Council the names of scores of suspected al-Qaeda members in its custody. A report to the council identified 78 suspected members of the Islamic militant network already extradited to their countries of origin, the official IRNA news agency said. The Iranian mission in New York also provided the names of 147 suspected members of al-Qaeda — or of its former Afghan hosts, the Taliban militia — who remain in custody here pending trial, extradition or deportation, the news agency said. Full Story
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