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Pakistan cooperating with Iran against rebel group
Tuesday, 02 Jun, 2009 | 05:22 AM PST |
www.dawn.com
TEHRAN: Iran said on Monday that a shadowy rebel group reportedly behind a deadly mosque bombing last week had ties with foreign forces based in Afghanistan, foreign agencies reported.
We consider (Abdolmalek) Rigis network linked with some foreign forces in Afghanistan, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told reporters in response to a question about Thursdays attack on a mosque which killed 25 people in Zahedan.
He said Iran had obtained evidence proving its allegation.
The minister said Pakistan and Iran had joined forces in combating insecurity since President Asif Ali Zardari took over last year.
A number of rebels detained in Pakistan have been extradited to Iran within this new framework, he said.
Iranian news reported on Monday that the interior ministry of Pakistan aims to wipe out Jundullah terrorist group, an organisation that has claimed responsibility for an attack on a mosque in southeastern Iran.
Pakistans interior ministry has presented all its information on Jundullah to the countrys intelligence services which include the ISI, MI and FIA. The ministry has also urged for the identification of group members and the immediate arrest of the ringleader Abdulmalek Rigi, according to the Fars News Agency (FNA).
The report goes on to say Islamabad has ordered the group be disbanded and wiped out. The chief of the Iranian armed forces, General Hassan Firouzabadi, said Iran had located the base of the group and informed the Pakistani government of Abdulmalek Rigis position.
Meanwhile, Iranian police said they had rounded up suspects accused of stoking sectarian violence in Zahedan.
Religious leaders from both Sunni and Shia communities appealed for calm after reports of rioting in the city.
Some rogue elements and agents of the enemy who want to divide Muslim brothers sought to create insecurity at some spots in Zahedan, deputy police chief Ahmad Reza Radan told the Mehr news agency. He said those arrested are both Sunni and Shia and they sought a Sunni-Shia divide.
Mehr said several public buildings had been damaged during clashes and special police were deployed throughout the city, while Mr Radan said security had been restored on Sunday.
A Sunni leader said the trouble began after he and his bodyguards came under attack when they visited the bombed mosque. Some people chanted slogans against me and one of my bodyguards was hit, Molavi Abdol Hamid Esmail-Zehi said. When reports of the aggression spread through the town, people started to protest.
He issued an appeal for calm, saying his safety was not at risk.
The Shia prayer leader in the city, Ayatollah Abbas Ali Soleimani, called on Shias and Sunnis not to fall for what he described as plots to exacerbate sectarian tensions by elements of the oppression and enemies of the Islamic regime.
Sistan-Baluchestan Governor Ali Mohammad Azad said several Sunni extremists had been identified and would face sentencing after the presidential election in the country on June 12, the ISNA news agency reported.
Police also found a cache of homemade weapons and munitions in a house in Tabriz and arrested three people, the Kayan newspaper said.
Tuesday, 02 Jun, 2009 | 05:22 AM PST |
www.dawn.com
TEHRAN: Iran said on Monday that a shadowy rebel group reportedly behind a deadly mosque bombing last week had ties with foreign forces based in Afghanistan, foreign agencies reported.
We consider (Abdolmalek) Rigis network linked with some foreign forces in Afghanistan, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told reporters in response to a question about Thursdays attack on a mosque which killed 25 people in Zahedan.
He said Iran had obtained evidence proving its allegation.
The minister said Pakistan and Iran had joined forces in combating insecurity since President Asif Ali Zardari took over last year.
A number of rebels detained in Pakistan have been extradited to Iran within this new framework, he said.
Iranian news reported on Monday that the interior ministry of Pakistan aims to wipe out Jundullah terrorist group, an organisation that has claimed responsibility for an attack on a mosque in southeastern Iran.
Pakistans interior ministry has presented all its information on Jundullah to the countrys intelligence services which include the ISI, MI and FIA. The ministry has also urged for the identification of group members and the immediate arrest of the ringleader Abdulmalek Rigi, according to the Fars News Agency (FNA).
The report goes on to say Islamabad has ordered the group be disbanded and wiped out. The chief of the Iranian armed forces, General Hassan Firouzabadi, said Iran had located the base of the group and informed the Pakistani government of Abdulmalek Rigis position.
Meanwhile, Iranian police said they had rounded up suspects accused of stoking sectarian violence in Zahedan.
Religious leaders from both Sunni and Shia communities appealed for calm after reports of rioting in the city.
Some rogue elements and agents of the enemy who want to divide Muslim brothers sought to create insecurity at some spots in Zahedan, deputy police chief Ahmad Reza Radan told the Mehr news agency. He said those arrested are both Sunni and Shia and they sought a Sunni-Shia divide.
Mehr said several public buildings had been damaged during clashes and special police were deployed throughout the city, while Mr Radan said security had been restored on Sunday.
A Sunni leader said the trouble began after he and his bodyguards came under attack when they visited the bombed mosque. Some people chanted slogans against me and one of my bodyguards was hit, Molavi Abdol Hamid Esmail-Zehi said. When reports of the aggression spread through the town, people started to protest.
He issued an appeal for calm, saying his safety was not at risk.
The Shia prayer leader in the city, Ayatollah Abbas Ali Soleimani, called on Shias and Sunnis not to fall for what he described as plots to exacerbate sectarian tensions by elements of the oppression and enemies of the Islamic regime.
Sistan-Baluchestan Governor Ali Mohammad Azad said several Sunni extremists had been identified and would face sentencing after the presidential election in the country on June 12, the ISNA news agency reported.
Police also found a cache of homemade weapons and munitions in a house in Tabriz and arrested three people, the Kayan newspaper said.
