IRNA
Iran challenged on Sunday Iraq`s US governor Paul Bremer`s allegations that members of al Qaeda had fled to Iran from Iraq, calling on him to back up his claims with proof if there was any. "Mr. Bremer must present evidence in order to substantiate the accuracy of his allegations," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi told reporters here during a weekly press briefing. "We have already announced that our borders are being controlled up to a very high degree and we do not allow any illegal movements (inside our territory) and that we will legally deal with any al Qaeda members whom we may find," he added.
| Yeah. Dealing with them's been the problem, hasn't it? |
Iran has arrested several hundred members of Osama bin Laden`s al Qaeda network and handed some of them over to their country of origin, while holding others.
| None of them have names, nor do the countries they were handed over to... |
Tehran has said it intends to place a dozen jailed suspects of the terror network on trial on criminal charges committed on the Iranian territory. Last December, Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi confirmed bombing threats made by al-Qaeda against Iran, which is fiercely opposed to the extremist group. "Iran has always been a victim of terrorism, especially posed by al-Qaeda," he said.
| Yeah. We've seen the string of explosions up and down the length of Iran... |
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