Friday, Sep 06, 2002
Friday, Sep 06, 2002 |
| International | ||
|
News:
Front Page |
National |
Southern States |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
Features |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary | International
By Atul Aneja
Iran's Interior Minister, Abdolvahed Mousavi Lari, told his Pakistani counterpart, Moinuddin Haidar, who is currently on a five-day trip to Teheran that Islamabad should do more to prevent fugitive Al-Qaeda fighters from entering Iran. In a tacit acknowledgment that Al-Qaeda members were indeed entering Iran from Pakistan, Mr. Haidar said Islamabad would do its best to prevent infiltration of Al-Qaeda members and drug traffickers into Iranian territory. Diplomatic sources said Iran was unhappy with recent U.S. accusations that it was harbouring Al- Qaeda members who had fled from Afghanistan. These charges have seemingly blocked the emerging rapprochement between Iran and the U.S. that has become visible after Washington began to target the Taliban in Afghanistan. In fact, Iran played a major role in fulfilling U.S. wishes to persuade various Afghan factions to form an interim administration in Kabul at the Bonn conference last year. By pinning blame for the cross-border Al-Qaeda movements on Pakistan and thereby absolving itself from any involvement, Iran is now seeking to remove this irritant in its relations with Washington, the sources observed. Iran's diplomatic manoeuvre, sources said, is part of its effort to be recognised as a partner in the U.S. led campaign against terrorism and not as a supporter of extremist violence. Reinforcing the point that it was not aiding the Al-Qaeda, the Iranians brought up the subject with Britain on Monday. Iran's Deputy Foreign Minster for Europe and America, Ali Ahani, during talks with Edward Chaplin, the British Foreign Ministry Director of West Asia Affairs, said in Teheran that rumours about Al-Qaeda forces in Iran were "baseless." Britain, which is Washington's close ally, has been reaching out to Iran ever since the historic visit to Teheran by its Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, last year. Iran, sources say, has been sending a flurry of signals for easing its troubled relationship with Washington recently. Iranian hardliners, including the former head of the powerful Iranian expediency council, Hashemi Rafsanjani, have agreed that the former Foreign Minister, Ali Akbar Velayati, could open a new channel of communication with the Americans. The Iranians have reportedly opened a liaison office for this purpose in Dubai recently. Much against the wishes of Baghdad, Iran also allowed an Iraqi Shia opposition group that is based in Teheran to participate in a meeting of Iraqi opposition leaders in Washington last month. Sensing that it cannot count on Iran for standing up to the United States, Iraq recently lashed out at Teheran, saying that the latter was secretly co-operating with the region's arch-foe, Israel. According to Iraq's Vice-President, Taha Yassin Ramadan, "There is no single episode in history when the Persians (Iranians) have co-operated with the Arabs against the Zionists (Israelis)." Iran has lodged a formal protest with Iraq over this statement.
Printer friendly
page
News:
Front Page |
National |
Southern States |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
Features |
|
|
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | The Sportstar | Frontline | Home |
Copyright © 2002, The
Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu
|
