Saudis Say Iran Expelled 16 in Al Qaeda

Iran has quietly detained and expelled to Saudi Arabia 16 Al Qaeda fighters who sought refuge in the country after fleeing Afghanistan, the Saudi foreign minister, Prince Saud al Faisal, said Saturday.

Iranian authorities handed over the Al Qaeda fugitives, all Saudis, knowing that whatever intelligence was obtained from them during interrogation in Saudi Arabia would be passed on to the U.S. for use in the war on terrorism, Saud said.

The revelations of Iran’s cooperation came in an interview with the foreign minister at his residence in Jidda. Iran’s actions are significant because the Bush administration has listed the country as part of an “axis of evil,” along with Iraq and North Korea.

The U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, has suggested that the United States has information indicating that Iran’s leadership is harboring Al Qaeda fugitives who slipped across the border after a U.S.-led military alliance toppled Afghanistan’s Taliban government last fall.

Saud, however, described cooperation from Iran as well as Saudi Arabia. He said that even though Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and some of his followers are Saudi, the Saudi government shares the U.S. desire to prosecute Bin Laden and his terrorist network.

Saud said a group of Saudi officials traveled to Tehran, the Iranian capital, in May to question 16 Al Qaeda fighters who were detained there, along with four women and six children, after crossing from Afghanistan. They left Iran in June on a Saudi jet.

The report of the expulsion contradicted long-standing Iranian claims that there were no Al Qaeda operatives in its territory.

Saudi officials declined to say whether the detainees turned over by Iran remain incarcerated.

“We asked [the Iranians] to hand them over, and they did,” the prince said. “Iran has not only cooperated with Saudi Arabia in this conflict ... but cooperated extensively with the United States.”