[Mb-civic] FW: Iranian intel: Tehran harboring bin Laden ?

[Golsorkhi]

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From: Shahla Samii <shahla at thesamiis.com>
Date: Fri, 8 Oct 2004 19:00:09 -0400
Subject: Iranian intel: Tehran harboring bin Laden ?



Friday, October 8, 2004

SEARCH FOR OSAMA
Iranian intel: Tehran
  harboring bin Laden

2 officials say they've seen terrorist
  under care of Revolutionary Guard

October 8, 2004


© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com

  Iran's cleric leaders are harboring Osama bin Laden, according to two
Iranian intelligence officials cited in a new book.

  The sources say they have seen the al-Qaida terrorist leader alive and
well, although he no longer resembles the picture on FBI wanted
posters.

  Author Richard Miniter writes in "Shadow War: The Untold Story of How
Bush Is Winning the War on Terror" that bin Laden "has trimmed his
beard to fit the more traditional look of a Shi'ite cleric and he
seemed to have put on weight, according to intelligence officials."

  The sources say bin Laden is constantly on the move, "shuttling from
Iranian safe houses controlled by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to
areas of Afghanistan controlled by the Iranian-backed warlord Gulbuddin
Hekmatyar."

  "Choopan," one of the sources, gives three reasons why Tehran would
give safe haven to bin Laden, risking the wrath of the West.

  "First, the Iranians believe they can keep bin Laden's presence a
secret and plausibly deny it if publicly accused," Miniter writes.
"Second, the mullahs are feeling increasingly threatened by the War on
Terror.

  "The mullahs, Choopan says, fear a counter-revolution and see bin
Laden's fighters as tools they can use to ensure the failure of these
young democracies in Iraq and Afghanistan and the survival of
mullah-dominated Iran. Finally, they share enemies, including many Arab
leaders, the United States and the rest of the Western world."

  The book, launched earlier this week by Regnery, publisher of "Unfit
for Command," already is No. 2 on the Amazon.com list.
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http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=40837

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