A British newspaper has reported that Iran is trying to prevent Libya from disclosing incriminating details of Teheran's top-secret nuclear weapons programme, by threatening to unleash groups opposed to the rule of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, according to reports in the Arabic Press.
Western intelligence sources have learned from interrogation of Al Qaeda suspects, captured near Afghanistan's border with Iran, that a Libyan militant group is being protected and trained by experts from Iran's Revolutionary Guards, the reports said. According to the paper, the Libyan Combat Islamic Group (GICL) was expelled from Libya by Col. Gaddafi in 1997 after it was implicated in attacks against government targets. At first the group relocated to Afghanistan, where it became closely involved in Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda organisation. After the war in Afghanistan in 2001, the group was given a safe haven in Iran, together with other north African militant groups linked to Al Qaeda. The Iranians have told Libya of the group's presence in Iran so long as Col. Gaddafi does not reveal details of Iran's secret nuclear activity. One of the reasons that Col. Gaddafi sought to improve relations with Britain and cooperate with British intelligence following September 11 was his concern about the growing activities of Libya's militant groups. The improved relations culminated in Gaddafi's decision, announced at the end of last year, to dismantle his weapons of mass destruction. "This is a serious initiative by the Iranians," said a Western intelligence official with access to the interrogation transcripts of Al Qaeda detainees in Afghanistan. "They are desperate to prevent Col. Gaddafi from spilling the beans about either Iran's involvement in international terrorism or in developing nuclear weapons." |