Iran Has Been Protecting Osama Bin Laden, Al-Zawahiri & Top Aides

I first found this article over at Maggie's Notebook.  Here is an article which reveals where both Bin Laden and Al-Zawahiri have been hiding out for the past five years. 

Osama bin Laden's hiding place was pinned down for the first time Monday, June 7, by the Kuwaiti Al-Siyassa Monday, June 7, as the mountainous town of Savzevar in the northeastern Iranian province of Khorasan, 220 km west of Mashhad. He is said to have lived there under Tehran's protection for the last five years, along with Ayman Al-Zawahiri and five other high-ranking al Qaeda leaders.


debkafile's intelligence sources disclosed Monday night that Turkish prime minister Recep Erdogan and his intelligence chiefs are well aware that Bin Laden and Zawahiri are hiding in Iran. The leak to the Kuwait paper was intended to show the Obama administration that the Turkish leader's ties with Iran had grown intense enough for him to be fully in the picture of Iran's secret sanctuary for the authors of the 9/11 attacks on the United States.

Savzevar, a small town of about a quarter of a million inhabitants, is connected by road to Tehran and Mashhad and has a small airport. A center for producing grapes and raisins, its location is remote and difficult to access because it is enclosed by lofty mountains and a salt desert 50,000 square kilometers in area.

On May 13, American intelligence sources reported in detail that senior al Qaeda operatives living in Iran had been allowed to leave the country through Syria to orchestrate terrorist attacks on American targets. Among them was Saif al-Adel, who is believed to have been assigned with planning an attack on the world soccer games opening in South Africa on June 12.

Those sources noted that Saif al-Adel had received his instructions directly from Osama bin Laden and Ayman Zawahiri but did not reveal knowledge of their presence in Iran.

debkafile's counter-terror sources disclose that the purpose of airing their precise whereabouts at this time, aside from implicating the Turkish leader, was first, to warn al Qaeda's leaders that their hideout was blown and they had better move on - which would make them easier to catch; and, second, to nudge US president Barak Obama into a decision to go after them.

A rare opportunity may now be building up to capture the world's most wanted terrorist, debkafile's counter-terror sources report. Last December, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates acknowledged the United States has not had any good intelligence on bin Laden's whereabouts in years. Until recently, the elusive master-terrorist was generally thought to have gone to ground in the wilder parts of Pakistan-Afghanistan border region.

H/T Debka File
H/T Maggie's Notebook

Was Israel Raid On Flotilla Self Defense?; Were Activists not Really Peaceful Activists?

From YNetNews: Israel to UN: Flotilla participants not peace activists

Deputy Ambassador Carmon tells Security Council emergency meeting, 'What kind of peace activists use knives, clubs and other weapons to attack soldiers?' Turkish FM: Israel's hands are covered with blood
Yitzhak Benhorin


This Turkish flotilla would not have rejected the offer made weeks ago, by the Israeli authorities to transfer the aid, through to the port of Ashdod, to Gaza through the existing overland crossing if it was truly a humanitarian projecct.

"The Flotilla organizers not only rejected this offer, but stated clearly that (and I quote) 'this mission is not about delivering Humanitarian supply, but rather about breaking the Israeli siege,' as Greta Berlin, a flotilla spokesperson told the media last week."


Carmon continued to say, "What kind of Humanitarian activists demand to bypass the United Nations, the Red Cross, and other internationally recognized agencies? What kind of peace activists use knives, clubs and other weapons to attack soldiers who board a ship in accordance with international law? What kind of Humanitarian activists, some with known terrorist history, embrace Hamas, a terrorist organization that openly shuns a two state solution and calls for Israel destruction, defying conditions set by the international community and the Quartet? The answer is clear: they are not peace activists; they are not messengers of good will. They cynically use a humanitarian platform to send a message of hate and to implement violence."



"Let me remind the Council that a state of armed conflict exists between Israel and the Hamas terrorist regime controlling Gaza. Let me remind the Council that rockets and mortars are still being launched by Hamas and others toward southern Israel. Let me remind the council that Gaza is occupied by terrorists that ousted the PA in a violent coup, and that arms are continuously being smuggled, including by sea. Let me stress that a maritime blockade is a legitimate and recognized measure under international law that may be implemented as part of an armed conflict at sea," he added.

I do not have all of the facts, but it seems to me that the U.N. and others' are not justified to make a declaratory statement right off the bat, saying that Israel was in the wrong in this instance, without knowing the facts, and before listening to both sides of the story.   It looks like Israel was justified in this event, but I am going to wait and see as the facts come to light.


H/T YNetNews