The enemy of my enemy is my ... oh, crap.

[Robb]

Iran arrests Sunni rebel accused of links with U.S.

TEHRAN -- Iranian authorities have arrested the fugitive leader of the country's main Sunni Muslim insurgent group, Iran's minister of interior told reporters Tuesday.

Iran accused the United States of having supported the insurgent leader, while his group issued a statement claiming that the CIA was involved in his arrest. The United States denied both assertions Tuesday. "These claims are just plain garbage," a senior U.S. intelligence official said in Washington.

Abdul Malik Rigi, 27, was captured in an unspecified third country, Iranian Interior Minister Mohammad Najjar said. Iran accuses Rigi of being the mastermind of numerous terrorist attacks that have killed dozens of people. Rigi, who for years has been Iran's top fugitive, heads the Jundallah (Soldiers of God, or God's Brigade) group, which says it supports the rights of a Sunni Muslim minority in Iran and operates in Iran's southeastern border region.

Iranian authorities say the United States gives financial and organizational support to the group, which often posts al-Qaeda-like execution videos on the Internet.

If you're looking for a good time, Google "Jundallah." Or hell, just read the Wikipedia entry. It's good for a laugh, especially if you watch all the back-and-forth on the editing process. An important side note, there are two groups calling themselves Jundallah, one run by Rigi and another mostly defunct one exclusively out of Pakistan. The latter is universally agreed to have Al Qaeda ties, the former not so much. US press confuses the two an awful lot. They both blow people up, by the way.

Of course, there's no chance we'd ever send guns or money to the Al Qaeda linked one. I wouldn't however put it past us to have funded Rigi as recently as last week. ;)

[Arctic Dave]

1. We would never collude with a terr'ist.

Wait, uhh, what was I saying.

[Robb]

2. See Dave, that's the great thing about DU.

Wait long enough and everybody can find something to agree on. :hi:

[EFerrari]

3. Who to believe, the Iranian government or the fine men and women at CIA.

:shrug:

ETA: I probably have to go with the Iranians.

[Robb]

4. To be fair

...Iran also plays the "which Jundallah are we talking about" game, lots of rhetoric about the US backing the one with Al Qaeda ties, which they know we almost certainly don't, because it plays well in their version of the sticks. Not that we are particularly popular in the urban centers of Iran, either, but you get the idea. :)

[EFerrari]

7. Oh, yep. The Iranian government is full of weasels.

They're just not as big weasels as the ones in CIA. LOL

[Robb]

11. They'll get there. Practice, practice, practice. nt

[gleaner]

5. Of course we don't collude ....

with terrorists. That is naughty. Nor do we back coups to replace leftist governments with fascist dictators. All those people who say that we put Pinochet et al into power and trained torturers at the School of the Americas are plumb mistaken. Everyone knows that Allende committed suicide by shooting himself in the back of the head with a machine gun and then sticking his head in a toilet bowel. It had nothing to do with us. Pinochet being convicted of war crimes was all a huge misunderstanding.:shrug:

I hope Rigi makes good use of their funding. Everyone else we have helped has, after all. Wouldn't want them to set a bad precedent.;)

[Robb]

8. Well, I hope he saved enough for a good lawyer at least.

His brother's been in Iranian custody for about a year, waiting to be executed. He told his story last year, to little fanfare. I can't imagine why the story didn't get traction in the US. :rofl:

[gleaner]

9. Must have been some kind of oversight ....

We all know our media is diligent and spot on. They wouldn't deliberately slant anything or omit an important story.:rofl: Thanks for the link. I'll bookmark it for later and have a good read.

[NoFace]

6. There is no Keyser Söze!! nt

[MadHound]

10. I can see it now. A typical alphabet agencies operation.

The NSA or (insert favorite alphabet agency here) supported the insurgent because they want to destabilize Iran while the CIA or (insert your other favorite alphabet agency here) is going after same insurgent because they want to bring in an Iranian terrorist. And there are people in this country, places both high and low, who wonder why we suffer so much from blowback.