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Iran Seeks U.S. Help to Keep al Qaeda Fighters Out
Tuesday, February 5, 2002
(11:35 AM ET) (16:35 GMT)
Reuters

TEHRAN, Iran
In a conciliatory gesture to the United States after days of angry exchanges, Tehran sought help from Washington Tuesday to arrest al Qaeda fighters who may have fled to Iran from Afghanistan.

Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi strongly denied U.S. charges that Tehran had helped Taliban and al Qaeda militants flee a U.S. military assault on neighboring Afghanistan.

"These are all mere excuses. Instead of waging negative propaganda, the Americans had better give us any information they have so that we go after them and keep them out of Iran," Kharrazi said in a joint news conference with visiting South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

Kharrazi's comments were the first conciliatory remarks from Iran after President Bush accused Iran, along with Iraq and North Korea, of being an "axis of evil" bent on acquiring weapons of mass destruction.

Bush's blunt remarks led to a war of words between Iran and the United States. Iran's military said Monday it was prepared to fend off any U.S. attack.
(CNN.com News Source)
2002 © Reuters, Ltd.

Dan