TERRORIST ATTACK AGAINST IRANIAN INTERESTS IN KABOL IS "BOGUS"
PARIS 6 Dec. (IPS) Claims by Iranian diplomats in the Afghan Capital that al-Qa’eda and Taleban are menacing them is totally "fabricated", aimed at covering the presence in Iran of members oif the terrorist network and the former Afghan government, according to well-informed sources.
According to a report on Thursday in the Iranian pro-conservative daily "Entekhab", Iran has received information of a specific al-Qaeda or Taleban threat against its Kabul embassy, possibly including a car bombing.
The paper said in an emergency meeting, Mr. Ashja’zadeh, the Iranian charge d’affaires in Kabol, has warned representatives of various Iranian institutions, including the official news agency IRNA and the Voice and Visage of the Islamic Republic (Radio and Television), al-Qa’eda had dispatched at least two terrorists to kill Iranian diplomats or journalists and attack Iranian interests, including Iranian embassy in Kabol, car bomb their vehicles etc.
"Two Arab members of al-Qa’eda, wearing Afghan dress and speaking fluent local dialect have entered Kabol to bomb the Iranian embassy or to attempt suicide attacks against Iranian diplomats", Mr. Ashja’zadeh was quoted in moderate, conservative paper as having told members of the Iranian community in the Afghan Capital.
But he did not say where from he has got this information, or how he knew that the would-be terrorists are dressed in Afghan wear or speak local dialect.
Informed sources in Tehran, contacted by IPS, said the report is a "bogus", aimed at diverting the attention from the presence in Tehran of members of al-Qa’eda, the Taleban and the Islamic Jihad of Palestine.
They said that Mr. Ashja’zadeh is an intelligence officer in charge of coordinating the Islamic Republic’s activities aimed at destabilising the government of Hamed Karzai, the American-backed Afghan interim Prime Minister-President.
"Contrary to Mr. Ash’azadeh’s claims that the Iranian embassy in Kabol lacks proper security measures, the compound is well guarded by heavily armed Iranian revolutionary guards", the sources said, adding that the office of the Iranian Radio and Television also serve as a cover for the special units of the intelligence branch headed by Hojjatoleslam Ali Fallahian, the former Intelligence Ministe and placed under the direct control of Mr. Khameneh'i.
According to the London-based Farsi-language weekly newspaper "Nimrooz", the Deprived Foundation, or Bonyad, is providing necessary funds for al-Qa’eda and Islamic Jihad operations against Israel and the United States.
The multi-function, huge Foundation, once referred to as "a state within the State", has branches all over the world and serves as a tool for conveying money to various terrorist organisations supported by the Islamic Republic. The Foundation is under the direct control of Ayatollah Khameneh'i.
The independent paper, quoting a certain M. Fetros as the source of its information, added that special units of the revolutionary guards are in charge of the training of the al-Qa’eda, Taleban and Palestinian militias.
Washington has also accused Tehran of sheltering fleeing Taleban and al Qa’eda members and of trying to destabilise the interim government in Afghanistan. Tehran vehemently denies the charges, but has admitted that it has arrested at least 250 al-Qa’eda and Taleban people who had fled to Iran, coming from Pakistan. ENDS IRAN KABOL EMBASSY MENACED 61202