South Asia News
Iran says Pakistan freed Sunni rebel leader before attack
Nov 6, 2009, 18:12 GMT
Tehran - Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards accused Pakistan Friday of releasing the leader of a Sunni rebel group ahead of a deadly attack it carried out in southeast Iran, state television IRIB reported.
Some 42 people, including at least seven senior commanders of the Revolutionary Guards, were killed last month in the bombing carried out in the province of Sistan-Beluchistan.
A Guards commander accused the Pakistani intelligence agency of supporting the group Jundallah (Soldiers of God) and its leader, Abdolmalik Rigi, who claimed responsibility for the attack.
Pakistan-based Jundallah has been involved in a series of clashes with the Revolutionary Guards, who are also responsible for protecting the country's borders.
'Abdolmalik Rigi was arrested on September 26 on a street in Quetta, but he was released an hour later, following intervention by the Pakistani intelligence service,' IRIB quoted the deputy head of the Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami, as saying.
A Jundallah member was hanged on Monday in Zahedan, capital of Sistan-Beluchistan. Thirteen others were executed in July.
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