Topic: INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL, TERRORISM, URGENT Source-Date: 07/08/2003
Iran, Egypt Said Negotiating Extradition of Ayman al-Zawahiri IAP20030709000002 Tehran Baztab WWW-Text in Persian 0001 GMT 8 Jul 03
[FBIS Translated Text]
A United Arab Emirates newspaper, Al-Bayan, has claimed that high-ranking security officials in Tehran and Cairo are holding highly secret negotiations regarding the extradition of Egyptian members of Al-Qa'idah who are in Iran.
According to a report by ILNA [Iranian Labour News Agency], the talks focus on radical Egyptian members of Al-Qa'idah. According to the newspaper, the most important such individuals are the number two man in Al-Qa'idah, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, who is the former leader of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, and Muhammad Showqi al-Islambuli, the brother of Khalid al-Islambuli, the man who murdered [as received] former Egyptian President [Muhammad] Anwar al-Sadat.
The talks began two days ago and they will continue today. Last week, the Qatar-based network, Al-Jazeera reported that Iran and Egypt had begun to hold secret talks in Cairo.