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CNN Live Sunday

Iran Expels 16 Suspected al Qaeda Fighters

Aired August 11, 2002 - 17:06   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KRIS OSBORN, CNN ANCHOR: There's new revelations today about Iran, that they may be helping the U.S. in the war on terrorism. Iran expelled 16 suspected al Qaeda fighters seeking refuge within its borders. They were turned over to Saudi Arabia. CNN White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux has more on the story.
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SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the president's January State of the Union Address, Bush declares Iran a member of the axis of evil.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: These regimes pose a grave and growing danger.

MALVEAUX: But now Saudi officials announce Iran has turned over 16 suspected al Qaeda to Saudi authorities in an effort to cooperate in the war on terror.

PRINCE SAUD AL-FAISAL, SAUDI ARABIAN FOR. MIN.: Yes, we have been handed these 16 members and they're being interrogated.

ADEL AL JUBEIR, SAUDI FOREIGN POLICY ADVISER: Everything that we know and everything that we will find out we will share with the United States.

MALVEAUX: Iran's action received no official comment from the Bush administration while the president is vacationing in Crawford, Texas. Iran's handover of al Qaeda, seen only as proof to the Pentagon that for months the country has served as a safe haven for al Qaeda fighters crossing the Afghan border. For critics, the news does not help Saudi Arabia's image.

SEN. FRED THOMPSON (R) TENNESSEE: To learn from the Saudis that the Iranians and the Saudis are working together kind of off to the side and behind our back to our benefit, let's just say I meet with a certain amount of skepticism. Some of our folks have been quite critical of the Saudis and they're clearly trying to do things and point toward things that will ameliorate that.

MALVEAUX: That criticism generated from a private analyst presentation to an advisory board to the Pentagon, claiming the Saudis were supporting terrorism. The report was dismissed by the White House, but administration officials acknowledge it's a critical time for U.S.-Saudi relations, especially since Saudi's foreign minister announced the U.S. would not be allowed to stage troops in Saudi Arabia in the event of a military attack on Iraq.

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MALVEAUX: The Bush administration has been looking at other options including basing in other Arab countries as well as on U.S. aircraft carriers. Kris.

OSBORN: Well, Suzanne, certainly the prospect of Iran helping out is likely welcomed news for the administration. Many remember, of course, them being named as the axis of evil and the argument that ensued, Iran saying hey, we've been helping in the war on terrorism.

MALVEAUX: Well, actually the Bush administration really hasn't reacted that much in terms of Iran's action itself but more towards Saudi Arabia. Iran for a long time has been a very strained relationship with the Bush administration, and most recently administration officials saying they don't have much hope that it is going to get better.

Iranian officials say today, however, that they send these members of al Qaeda to countries around the world. It's really up to these other countries to decide what to do with them, saying that they are really not making a big to-do over this whole thing, that it's more Saudi Arabian officials who are actually calling attention to this.

OSBORN: Absolutely. Suzanne Malveaux, live, traveling with the president in Crawford, Texas.

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