Afghan province says Iran gives shelter to al Qaeda

By Andrew Marshall

Wednesday February 13, 5:08 PM

KANDAHAR (Reuters) - Authorities in southern Afghanistan accused Iran on Wednesday of giving shelter to Taliban and al Qaeda fighters, saying there were reports of camps across the border for enemies of the new Afghan administration.

"We have received reports that special camps have been opened," Khalid Pashtoon, a senior aide to the governor of Kandahar province, Gul Agha, told Reuters.

"One name I can reveal is Nusratabat, about 30 km (19 miles) west of Zahedan."

The Iranian town of Zahedan sits just across the border from Pakistan and Afghanistan's Nimroz province, where Kandahar officials say pockets of Taliban and Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network are still active.

Officials in Kandahar say Taliban and al Qaeda fighters are believed to be moving back and forth across the border.

Kandahar's post-Taliban administration, dominated by Sunni Pashtuns, has frequently accused Iran's Shi'ite government of trying to destabilise the region.

But Iranian authorities have emphatically denied interfering in Afghan affairs or seeking to undermine the six-month interim government that took office in December.

Iran has also rejected U.S. allegations that it was letting members of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network escape from Afghanistan through Iran. Bin Laden is the prime suspect in the September 11 attacks on the United States.

"DON'T INTERFERE"

Complicating the situation is rivalry between Kandahar and the western Afghan city of Herat.

Kandahar officials have accused Herat's governing warlord Ismail Khan of working with a former mujahideen faction leader, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, and members of Iran's Pasdaran militia to stir up trouble in southwest Afghanistan.

Hekmatyar, who has been in exile in Iran for years, is one of the most vocal opponents of Afghanistan's new interim government and the involvement of foreign forces.

Iranian media reported on Sunday that Iranian authorities closed down Hekmatyar's offices amid mounting calls for him to be expelled.

The move, which the media said was made because Hekmatyar had acted against Iranian national security, was seen as an Iranian effort to demonstrate goodwill towards the U.N.-backed interim government in Afghanistan. But it seems to have done little to ease suspicion of Iran in Kandahar.

"Iranian interference is continuing on a daily basis," Pashtoon said.

"Of course, we inform the central government in Kabul on a daily basis. It's their job to take action and tell the Iranians not to interfere in Afghanistan."

He said Iran was providing opponents of the Afghan regime with "arms, ammunition, humanitarian aid, cash -- all kinds of stuff".

Tensions between Kandahar and Herat, as well as turf wars between rival warlords, are widely seen as the greatest immediate threat to Afghanistan's interim administration.

Talks between officials of the two cities averted a potential confrontation, but Kandahar officials say the road to Herat is not yet safe and that this is damaging trade and confidence.