AFHGANISTAN/IRAN: The inevitable tussle for influence in the new Afghanistan has prompted unattributed reports of US concerns about alleged Iranian attempts to infiltrate agents.Patrick Smyth reports.
The New York Times yesterday cited intelligence sources claiming that US special forces have evidence of infiltration in the northwest of the country near the city of Herat, of attempts to threaten and bribe local tribal leaders, and of the willingness of the regime to shelter a small number of fleeing al-Qaeda fighters. The report coincided with a call by President Bush on Tehran to collaborate with the US campaign against terrorism by handing over suspects.
Iranian interest in the fate of its neighbour is scarcely surprising, in particular its concern about the pro-Western sympathies of the new government in Kabul.
"Iran is trying to make sure that Afghanistan remains an Islamic state and does not become more secular, like Turkey," one Defence official told the Times.
Tehran was strongly opposed to the Taliban regime and with Moscow was one of the main backers of the Northern Alliance. It provided shelter for many refugees, including the charismatic liberator of the Shia Muslim city of Herat, the Tajik warlord, Mr Ishmail Khan. Mr Khan's son, Mr Mir Wais Sadeq, is a member of the new government.
Tehran indicated a willingness at the beginning of the war to seal its border and to allow the rescue of downed US pilots, but was not willing to participate in any military action.
The indications were welcomed, however, in Washington as a sign of the country's desire to build bridges with the west.
"By and large, the Iranian role diplomatically has been quite constructive," Mr Richard N. Haass, the State Department's director of policy planning, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last month.
Iran sent observers to the talks in Bonn on forming the coalition government, and its diplomats played a key role behind the scenes, he said. But he cautioned, "I'm not saying we see everything eye to eye here." Iran is also seeking a leading role in the rebuilding of Afghanistan.
A United Nations-sponsored conference this week in Tehran brought together Afghan business leaders, entrepreneurs and academics to discuss recovery efforts in health, education and community development.
"Iran is trying to stir up mischief," a senior military official told the Times. "So far we haven't taken any action, but we're keeping a very close eye on it."
The US military will fly al-Qaeda and Taliban prisoners from Afghanistan to a jail in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, defence officials said yesterday. The initial transfer of dozens of hard-line, anti-western "detainees", among 371 already under US control, to a jail at the US Navy Base in Cuba will begin in groups of about 25 on Air Force military planes within days, officials said.
One of the officials said planning called for the prisoners, not yet charged with crimes, to be manacled together and outnumbered by specially-trained guards carrying stun guns. Others confirmed that consideration was being given to tranquilising some of the detainees for flights that would take more than 12 hours.- (Reuters)