US 'funding anti-Iran terror groups'
Wednesday, 09 Jul 2008 13:57
Former Pakistan army chief accuses Washington of funding terrorists to destabilise Iran
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Pakistan's former army chief has accused the United States of funding terror groups to destabilise Iran, and sow discord between Tehran and Islamabad.
Retired General Mirza Aslam Baig named the Jundullah organisation that operates in the border areas between Iran and Pakistan as the main recipient of US financial and military aid.
Jundullah, a terror group little known in the west, is reportedly responsible for bomb attacks, murders and kidnappings in Iran's Sistan-Baluchistan and Pakistan's Baluchistan region.
The former military chief praised a decision by the government in Pakistan to hand over captured Jundullah members to Iran.
Last month, Islamabad captured and repatriated to Iran Abdolhamid Rigi, brother of the group's leader, Abdolmalek Rigi.
In recent months, Tehran has made repeated claims that the United States and Britain have been actively involved in the funding and training of Iranian opposition groups, including the People's Mujahedin of Iran (PMI), otherwise known as the Mujahedin Khalq Organisation (MKO).
Britain has removed the PMI from its Home Office list of terrorist organisations, a move that enraged Tehran.