Report: Iran harbouring top al-Qaida figure

A top al-Qaida terrorist has fled from Iraq to neighbouring Iran where he is being protected by the government along with several other senior figures from the network, it was reported today.

American intelligence officials told The Washington Times that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi fled from Iraq to Iran in the last few weeks.

US Secretary of State told the UN Security Council in February that al-Zarqawi was an “associate and collaborator of Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida lieutenants”.

Officials in Washington believe he helped the terrorists who killed US diplomat Laurence Foley in Amman, Jordan, in October.

Iran has denied claims by the White House it is harbouring al-Qaida terrorists. Officials in Tehran recently said several al-Qaida members have been detained – but did not identify any of them.

One US official told the newspaper al-Zarqawi was not a member of al-Qaida, but just “worked with them when it was convenient”.

“He is a real bad actor,” said the official, who cautioned that al-Zarqawi’s presence in Iran is not certain. “There are reports he is washed up in Iran.”

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said last month that he is convinced senior al-Qaida leaders are in Iran.

Asked whether the US would go to war with Iran if Tehran is sheltering al-Qaida, Rumsfeld said: “Those are decisions not for me. Those are decisions for the president.”

Defence and intelligence officials told the paper the senior al-Qaida members Rumsfeld was referring to included Sayf al-Adl, who is believed to be the official in charge of al-Qaida’s military operations and has been linked to the 1998 bombings of two US embassies in East Africa.

The newspaper also said a second top al-Qaida leader in Iran is Osama bin Laden’s oldest son, Saad bin Laden.