The United States renewed calls for Iran to turn over al-Qaeda operatives on its territory but denied suggestions it might exchange Iraqi-based Iranian opposition figures to Tehran in return for members of Osama bin Laden’s terror network. "We believe Iran should turn over all suspected al-Qaeda operatives to the United States or to countries of origin or third countries for further interrogation and trial," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. "It’s essential that other countries have direct access to information these people may have about past and future al-Qaeda plans. We acknowledge that Iran has in the years past turned over some al-Qaeda to third countries, however, we’re not aware of any progress with regard to al-Qaeda currently in detention, whom we suspect includes top al-Qaeda leadership."
| If they're still conducting operations, I'm not at all sure they're in "detention." |
His comments came in a response to questions about a weekend report that Jordan’s King Abdullah II was quietly trying to broker a deal between the United States and Iran in which in Iran would surrender the al-Qaeda in exchange for US action on members of the Iranian group People’s Mujahadin. US troops in Iraq are currently interrogating members of the group, which is also known as the Mujahadin-e-Khalq and has been designated a "foreign terrorist organization" by the State Department, to determine whether to take legal action against them, Boucher said. But he stressed that "the United States is not engaged in discussions regarding a swap of Mujahadin-e-Khalq members held by US forces in Iraq in return for al-Qaeda members held in Iran. The Washington Post reported on Sunday that the Jordanian monarch, who was in Washington last week on a private visit, is trying to revive a dialogue between the United States and Iran in a bid to prevent further destablization in the Middle East. |