Al-Arabiya reported that al-Zawahiri is among a group of senior al-Qaeda members held in Iran

TEHRAN, June 28 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Iran has been locked in highly secretive and complex extradition talks with Egypt, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia over detainees it holds and are widely believed to be top members of Al-Qaeda, diplomatic sources said Saturday, June 28.

According to the well-placed sources, Iran could deal the biggest blow to Al-Qaeda since the U.S.-led war on Afghanistan by handing over some of bin Laden's closest aides.

But government spokesman Abdollah Ramezanzadeh told Agence France-Presse (AFP) many of the detainees were still being identified, adding that is was unlikely their names would ever be officially released.

"We have not been able to identify all Al-Qaeda members, and even if we did there is no reason for us to give their names to the press. This is a security issue, and this is how security apparatuses work," he said.

Iran has also pointed to its extradition of some 500 fugitives from Afghanistan in the wake of the U.S. ouster of Taliban, a figure that has been independently confirmed by well-kept sources.

Reason

Kuwaiti-born Abu Gaith is Al-Qaeda spokesman

But diplomats here said they have "firm reason" to believe that three top Al-Qaeda fugitives have been detained in Iran.

One is Egyptian-born Saif al-Adel, thought to have taken over as Al-Qaeda's number three from military operations chief Mohammad Atef, who was believed killed in Afghanistan in late 2001.

The second is Saad bin Laden, one of Saudi-born Osama bin Laden's eldest sons.

In his early 20's, Saad is thought to have taken a senior position in the running of Al-Qaeda.

The third believed to be in Iranian custody is Sulaiman Abu Gaith, a Kuwaiti-born Al-Qaeda spokesman.

"But the negotiations to hand them over are very delicate, so for the moment there has been no official word on who they are," one diplomat said.

On May 18, U.S. officials said that Saif al-Adel, who allegedly helped organize the triple bombings in Riyadh that killed 34 people last week was hiding in Iran.

Iran, for its part, gainsaid on May 30  U.S. allegations that al-Qaeda members in the country played a role in the Riyadh bombings.

Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi averred that the suspected al-Qaeda members, already in custody, were arrested before the May 12 attacks on western targets in Saudi Arabia and could not, therefore, had been involved in the planning of the blasts.

Diplomats said negotiations to extradite the detainees have been running for several weeks but were hitting snags, given that Iran has only low-level diplomatic ties with Egypt.

Furthermore, diplomats point out that bin Laden's son has been stripped of his Saudi nationality, while Abu Gaith has been stripped of his Kuwaiti nationality.

Those problems were believed to have dominated discussions during recent flying visits by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal and Kuwaiti Interior Minister Sheikh Mohammad Khaled al-Sabah, although it remains unclear if any extradition deal has yet been worked out.

The Dubai-based satellite television news channel Al-Arabiya, quoting Western diplomatic sources, said Friday, June 27, the detainees may also include Ayman al-Zawahiri, bin Laden's Egyptian-born number-two and head of the outlawed Egyptian Jihad group.

Al-Arabiya also said that the detainees included Saudis, Kuwaitis, Jordanians and Iraqi Kurds.

In a recent audio tape recording, bin Laden warned that Arab countries such as Egypt, Syria and Sudan, as well as Iran would be the next U.S. targets after Iraq.

Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdel-Aziz announced Friday the surrender of the man considered by Washington to be al-Qaeda senior operative in Saudi Arabia.

Ali Abdul Rahman Said al-Ghamdi was also number two on the list of 19 people wanted by Saudi authorities in connection with Riyadh bombings.

The Associated Press ran on June 21 a video of a masked man who claimed that Al-Qaeda network had carried out two bomb attacks in Saudi Arabia and Morocco and plans fresh wider operations.