Iran 'is holding al-Qa'ida spokesman'

A close associate of Osama bin Laden is being held in Iran, it emerged yesterday. Authorities in Tehran have acknowledged to the Kuwaitis that they are holding Kuwaiti-born Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, who took on the role of spokesman for al-Qa'ida after the 11 September terror attacks.

According to the Kuwaiti Interior Minister, Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah, the Iranians "wanted to extradite Abu Ghaith ... but we do not recognise Abu Ghaith, he is not Kuwaiti [any more]".

The Kuwaitis stripped Mr Abu Ghaith of his citizenship in October 2001.

He was seen in the first video distributed by Bin Laden after the 11 September attacks sitting with the al-Qa'ida chief and his deputy, the Egyptian Ayman al-Zawahiri, in Afghanistan. Mr Abu Ghaith, a former teacher travelled to Afghanistan six months before 11 September after becoming involved with radical Kuwaiti Islamist groups.

Although Iran officially denies that it has captured Mr Abu Ghaith, Sheikh Nawaf told the Saudi daily Okaz: "According to our information he is there, but Kuwait rejects the handover of this person." Tehran says it is holding several suspected al-Qa'ida members but has refused to name them. Iran also says it has arrested and deported more than 500 al-Qa'ida suspects in the past year.

Bin Laden is still being hunted by the Americans. The Afghan Foreign Minister, Abdullah Abdullah, said this week that Bin Laden was no longer in Afghanistan but was "likely still in the neighbourhood".