Kuwait Times

Published Date: September 28, 2008

RIYADH: Kuwait's interior minister urged Iran in remarks published yesterday not to provide a safe haven for "terrorists" but said there was no proof of claims that Tehran has sleeper cells in his country. "Iran should not serve as a haven for, or bankroller of, terror," Sheikh Jaber Khaled Al-Sabah was quoted as telling the Saudi daily Okaz.

It said Sheikh Jaber called on Iran "not to harbor terrorists from Al-Qaeda and not to serve as a launchpad or safe passage for terrorists." Despite the implicit accusation that Iran harbors terror suspects, Sheikh Jaber dismissed claims by two Kuwaiti MPs that sleeper cells attached to Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards were operating in the oil-rich Gulf state.

I wish the two MPs had shown the evidence they have. Intelligence (services) are present everywhere" but it is up to a country's security services to deal with them, Sheikh Jaber said. "So far we did not uncover any such" Iran-linked cells, he said. Kuwait's defense minister on Monday dismissed as "mere rumors" a claim that spy rings from neighboring countries were in the emirate. He did not specifically name Iran, but was apparently referring to a claim by an Iranian defector that the Revolutionary Guar
ds run sleeper cells in the six Arab monarchies of the Gulf.

Iran's Defense Minister Mustafa Mohammad Najjar has denied the allegation. In the remarks reported by Okaz, the Kuwaiti interior minister did not rule out that Al-Qaeda may have sleeper cells in Kuwait. "We do not deny this, and we do not deny that we are always on the alert, as our security forces have shown... I do not rule out the presence of (Al-Qaeda-linked) groups whether in Kuwait or in the Gulf," he said. Kuwaiti security forces fought deadly gunbattles with a group linked to Al-Qaeda in January 20
05.

In another development, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal yesterday called on Iran to comply with its nuclear obligations to spare the Middle East region from "devastating conflicts, futile arms races and serious environmental hazards." "We take very seriously the undertakings of Iran to fully and strictly respect its obligation to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction," he said in written remarks circulated at the 192-member UN General Assembly.

We hope that this obligation will be put into practical effect in such a way as to ensure a peaceful and rapid solution to the problem of the Iranian nuclear program and save the region from devastating conflicts, futile arms races and serious environmental hazards," he added. His remarks were released as the UN Security Council met to consider a short draft resolution reaffirming existing sanctions against Tehran over its refusal to suspend sensitive nuclear fuel work which could be used to build a nucle
ar weapon.

The West and Israel fear Iran intends to build a nuclear bomb but Tehran insists its nuclear energy program is entirely peaceful and aimed at generating electricity. The Saudi foreign minister also expressed support for the United Arab Emirates in its territorial dispute with Iran over three islands near the Strait of Hormuz through which an estimated 40 percent of the world's crude oil passes.

We reaffirm our support for the right of the United Arab Emirates to recover its occupied islands by peaceful means and hope that Iran will respond rapidly and favorably to this call," he added. Iran, while under the rule of the Western-backed shah, gained control of the three islands in 1971 as British forces granted independence to its Gulf protectorates. The UAE has repeatedly proposed resolving the dispute through direct negotiations or international arbitration, but Iran has always refused.- Agencies