Iranian Alert -- October 26, 2003 -- IRAN LIVE THREAD PING LIST

Iran Will Not Reveal Names of Detained al-Qaeda Leaders

October 26, 2003
AFP
Channel NewsAsia

TEHRAN -- Iran said it would not reveal the names of top al-Qaeda suspects in custody here, adding that a list of names it had given to the UN Security Council covered only members of the group already extradited.

"Regarding the people who are in Iran, the Islamic republic prefers not to disclose their names because of the security issues," foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters on Sunday.

When asked if some of the detainees could be classed as high-ranking -- confirmed several months ago by other officials -- Asefi replied: "What I know is that there are a number."

On Saturday, state media reported that Iran had finally revealed to the UN Security Council the names of scores of suspected al-Qaeda members in its custody.

A report to the council identified 78 suspected members of the Islamic militant network already extradited to their countries of origin, the official IRNA news agency said.

The Iranian mission in New York also provided the names of 147 suspected members of al-Qaeda -- or of its former Afghan hosts, the Taliban militia -- who remain in custody here pending trial, extradition or deportation, the news agency said.

But Asefi contradicted the report.

"What we have given is the names of 78 people who were arrested and given back to their country of origin. In the recent session, another 147 names were given," Asefi said, adding that this list also referred to those "also extradited".

Previously, Iran said it arrested and deported some 500 people belonging to or linked to al-Qaeda since late 2001. Those who have been extradited are not believed to include any senior members of the group.

But the identity of those still being held here has been the subject of intense speculation.

Diplomatic sources and Arab press reports have pointed to the possible presence here of four al-Qaeda leaders who have all been stripped of their nationalities in their home countries.

They include the movement's spokesman, Sulaiman Abu Gaith, a former Kuwaiti, and its number two and number three -- Ayman al-Zawahiri and Saif al-Adel -- both of them formerly Egyptian.

Also said to be in Iran is Osama bin Laden's Saudi-born son, Saad, seen as now taking a leading role in the network.

The Washington Post reported October 14 that Saad had risen to the top ranks of al-Qaeda and was helping run the terror network from inside Iran under the protection of an elite unit linked to the Revolutionary Guards, the Islamic republic's ideological army.

Iran has dismissed the allegation as an "absolute lie" and challenged foreign intelligence services to prove it.

Asefi alluded to this speculation, saying: "The news that some people are saying is absolutely not true. These are rumours, guessing.

"It is very clear that we are not giving sanctuary to al-Qaeda in Iran. Al-Qaeda has no place in Iran," he insisted.

As for suggestions that Iran may itself try al-Qaeda leaders it is unable to extradite, Asefi said: "The time of their trial has not been determined yet."

The United States has repeatedly accused Iran of harbouring al-Qaeda members, and diplomats say Washington has handed Tehran a list of names of suspects it wants handed over before any dialogue between the two arch-enemies can resume.

AFP text, photos, graphics and logos shall not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. AFP shall not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions in any AFP content, or for any actions taken in consequence.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/54159/1/.html

Iran: Kuwait Mustn't Develop Disputed Offshore Gas Field

October 26, 2003
Dow Jones Newswires
Hashem Kalantari

TEHRAN -- Iran is opposed to Kuwait's proposed development of a disputed gas field until negotiations on demarcating the Iranian/Kuwaiti maritime border are completed, an Iranian foreign ministry official said Sunday.

Kuwait announced earlier this month that it plans to invite international tenders to develop the disputed offshore gas field in cooperation with Saudi Arabia. Kuwait, which remains in talks with Iran over demarcating its maritime border, calls the disputed gas field Dorra while Iran calls it Arash.

"Not until the issue over Arash is terminally clarified does any country have the right to exploit it," said Hamid-Reza Asefi, an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman.

Assefi said any measures to develop the field will face official diplomatic protest from Iran

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said last week that, based on an agreement between the two countries' foreign ministries, neither has the right to start development without the consent of the other party.

Dorra was first discovered in November 1967 and drilling of six exploratory wells then proved commercial reserves of gas and condensates at the field.

Recoverable gas reserves at the field are estimated at around 7 trillion cubic feet with a potential production capacity of 600 million cf to 1.5 billion cf a day.

Saturday, the oil ministers of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, who delineated their borders in 2001, met in Riyadh to discuss the best ways of carrying out development programs at the offshore Dorra gas field.

State-run National Iranian Oil Co. (NIO.YY) has shrugged off the announcement on the development of Dorra, arguing that no international company will get itself involved in a disputed field.

-By Hashem Kalantari, Dow Jones Newswires, +9821 896 6230

http://framehosting.dowjonesnews.com/sample/samplestory.asp?StoryID=2003102611210000&Take=1

Iran Restoring to Procastination Tactics

October 26, 2003
RIA Novosti
Nikolai Terekhov

TEHRAN -- Iranian Foreign Ministry's spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi urged Europe to reciprocate in development of peaceful nuclear technologies.

"If Europeans remain unwilling to cooperate with us in provision of advanced technologies, no one can expect Iran's cooperation in this area," Asefi told journalists.

Commenting on the statement announcing Iran's suspension of its work in the area of enriched uranium, Asefi said that "during a visit to Tehran of Foreign Ministers of three Western countries (Germany, Great Britain and France) Iran agreed only to consider a possibility of suspending work in this area".

The Iranian diplomat also said that the parties had reached an agreement on the need to consider the issue of signing the Additional Protocol to the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Arms by Tehran at the next session of the IAEA Board. The negotiating parties also agreed to transfer the issue of the Islamic Republic's nuclear technologies from the political to technical context.

"The process of signing the Additional Protocol by Tehran will start after the session of the IAEA Board this November," Asefi said.

http://en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_id=3552193&startrow=1&date=2003-10-26&do_alert=0

Foreign investment in Iran up by 350%

Payvand's Iran News
10/26/03

Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance and Head of Iran's Investment Organization Mohammad Khazaie said in Ardebil on Sunday that a 350-percent increase has been observed in the level of foreign investment in Iran during the past year, IRNA reported.

Addressing a seminar of traders from Ardebil province, he added that the investments approved by Iran's Investment Organization from 1993 through late spring of 2002 amounted to dlrs 2.3 billion, while last year's figure stood at dlrs 1.3 billion.

"In recent years, Iran has made a leap in gaining international reputation in the economic sector and its investment risk rate has dropped from six to four.

"Investments can optimize management standards while improvement of public welfare will eliminate poverty and corruption," he added. Khazaie pointed out that investment in agricultural and mines mines sectors as well as tourism are among the exigencies.

http://www.payvand.com/news/03/oct/1163.html

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