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US accusation on presence of Al Qaeda in Iran misinformation

IRNA

 New Delhi, May 28, IRNA -- A prominent Indian expert said on Wednesday
that the US accusation against Iran on the presence of Al Qaeda in    
that country is misinformation which is spread with a vested interest.
    B. Raman, Director, Institute of Tropical Studies, Chennai told   
this to IRNA in a telephone interview.                                
    Referring to the new wave of propaganda by Washington against     
Iran, Raman said, Al Qaeda is an extremist Arab organization and      
cannot have a foothold for activities in Iran.                        
    Raman who is also a former additional secretary, Cabinet          
Secretariat, Government of India, said, Al Qaeda which is being       
established by Osama Bin Laden and is follower of Wahhabi school of   
thought is in principle irreconcilable with Iran.                     
    Elaborating, Raman said, Al Qaeda which emerged in Afghanistan in 
the form of Taliban after capturing central parts of this country     
massacred Hazaras, the ethnic community who are basically Shias and   
after capturing Mazar-e-Sharif in North Afghanistan, they killed      
Iranian reporter and several Diplomats. With this background, how can 
Iran be a place or sanctuary of this organization's terrorist         
activities, he added.                                                 
    Raman said, the hardliners in Bush Administration by utilizing    
the opportunity of unipolar world and occupation of Iraq now want to  
settle scores with those who are having ideological differences with  
them.                                                                 
    In this context, Raman gave an example of Richard Perle in        
Pentagon and said, that he who is a member of pro-Zionist lobby wants 
American military to achieve strategic objective in the middle east   
region which are in line with Israeli plans.                          
    Emphasizing on the falsehood of US accusations on the presence of 
Al Qaeda leaders in Iran, he said, that Pentagon previously made      
similar accusations against Iraq on the presence of weapons of mass   
destruction (WMD) and Al Qaeda but after the occupation of Iraq by    
Anglo-American forces there is no sign of WMD or the presence of Al   
Qaeda.                                                                
    Raman who is also an expert on counter terrorism, said that some  
of the real objective of a part of US administration on recent        
allegation is to increase psychological pressure on Iran to change its
stand on the Middle East issues.                                      
    While referring to the fact US may try to get information about   
Iran through some of its neighbors, Raman said, some of the countries 
who have been accused of supporting Al Qaeda may now try to turn this 
accusation on others.                                                 
    He emphasized that Iranian policies have always based on detente  
and this by itself negates the notion of terrorism.                   
/LS/AR                                                                
End