Bin Laden’s son, Al Qaeda terrorists spotted in Iran

www.dailytimes.com.pk By Bill Gertz WASHINGTON: US intelligence agencies say Osama bin Laden’s oldest son, Sad, is in Iran along with other senior Al Qaeda terrorists, as Iranian military forces have been placed on their highest state of alert in anticipation of a US attack on Iraq, according to intelligence officials. Sad bin Laden was spotted in Iran last month, according to officials familiar with intelligence reports. Sad is believed to be a key leader of the Al Qaeda terrorist network since US and allied forces ousted the ruling Taliban militia in Afghanistan. Officials said it is not clear what relationship Sad has with the Tehran government, which on Thursday denied congressional testimony by CIA Director George J. Tenet that Al Qaeda terrorists are in Iran. The new reports are the first time senior Al Qaeda terrorists have been identified in Iran. Earlier reports have indicated other Al Qaeda fighters have been granted refuge in Iran from neighboring Afghanistan. The intelligence on bin Laden’s son comes as the Bush administration has released intelligence indicating Iraq is working with Al Qaeda terrorists, including a senior associate of Osama bin Laden who has been in Baghdad since May. A CIA spokesman declined to comment when asked about the intelligence reports about Sad’s whereabouts. London’s Arabic-language newspaper Al-Sharq al-Awsat, quoting a diplomatic source, reported from Rome on Thursday that Sad was seen in Iran. The newspaper said it is not clear whether other senior Al Qaeda are in Iran. US officials confirmed that Sad is among the senior Al Qaeda believed to be in Iran after the newspaper report appeared. Sad, 23, is the oldest of Osama bin Laden’s 27 children from several wives. He lived with his father in Sudan and Afghanistan, and fled Afghanistan in December 2001. Meanwhile, Iranian military forces are on heightened alert and Tehran leaders fear US military forces will use operations against Iraq as a steppingstone for invading Iran. The Iranian military activities appear similar to Iran’s response to the 1991 Persian Gulf war, when Iranian military forces built up in large numbers along the border with Iraq. So far, the Iranian forces have not massed near the Iraqi border, but are expected to do so if US military operations against Iraq occur. Mr Tenet said at a Senate hearing Tuesday that “we see disturbing signs that Al Qaeda has established a presence in both Iran and Iraq.” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said yesterday that Mr Tenet’s claim was “baseless,” state-run Tehran radio reported. “The seriousness of Iran’s fight against terrorism, and its expelling those suspected of links to Al Qaeda, has always been clear, sincere and transparent,” he said. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld also said in a Senate hearing in September that the Iranian government is “currently harboring reasonably large numbers of Al Qaeda,” while keeping the support for the terrorist group from its people. “The Al Qaeda are functioning in that country, both transiting and located, and operating,” Mr Rumsfeld told the Senate Armed Services Committee. Iran’s government has denied repeatedly it has any links to Al Qaeda. The chief of Iran’s armed forces, Maj. Gen. Mohammed Salimi, said in Tehran on Monday that the Iranian army is “on full alert,” according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency. Gen. Salimi said the armed forces are “on guard against any aggressive move by enemies that would threaten the territorial integrity of Islamic Iran.” Bush administration officials met privately last month in Europe with Iranian officials to discuss Iraq and seek Tehran’s help in supporting Sunni Muslims in a post-Saddam Iraq. The meeting was first reported by The Washington Post Feb. 8. Officials said the initiative was put forth by Richard Haas, the State Department’s director of policy planning. Intelligence officials said Iran’s support for terrorists, including Al Qaeda, in the past was carried out by agents of the Ministry of Intelligence and Security, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Qods Force. The Defense Intelligence Agency in 2000 uncovered information linking Al Qaeda to Iran’s government. Intelligence from Malaysia showed that two of the September 11 hijackers, Khalid Almidhar and Nawaf Alhazmi, attended a key meeting of Al Qaeda terrorists in Malaysia that year. The two men were the suicide hijackers of American Airlines Flight 77 that hit the Pentagon. The 2000 intelligence showed they stayed at the Kuala Lumpur residence of Iran’s ambassador to Malaysia. —TWT Qaeda plotting to hit Saudi oil installations NEW YORK: The Al Qaeda terror network is planning a series of deadly attacks on Saudi Arabia’s oil lines and refineries, designed to cripple the Saudi monarchy and subsequently the US economy which has a large stake in Middle-east’s oil industry, a media report said on Saturday. US and Saudi intelligence officials are particularly concerned about operations by Al Qaeda after a previous attack plotted by it against Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura refinery, the largest in the world, was thwarted last summer. The plot was foiled when the CIA provided intelligence to its Saudi counterparts. The Saudis refused to disclose to American authorities details of their follow-up on the investigation, but Saudi intelligence sources told ABC Television News that Riyadh was able to disrupt the operation by arresting five people. Al Qaeda’s repeated attempts against the World Trade Centre showed the terror network does not give up on its prized targets on single attempt, the report said. —PTI