Iran: One of Osama bin Laden's older sons has emerged as a key player in the al-Qaeda network and is part of a small group of leaders running the group from Iran, according to the Washington Post.
Citing US and European intelligence sources, the newspaper reported yesterday that Saad bin Laden and other senior al-Qaeda operatives in Iran were in contact with an al-Qaeda cell in Saudi Arabia just before the suicide bombing in the Saudi capital on May 12th that killed 35 people.
The sources gave no details of the communications but said the contacts led them to conclude that the Riyadh attacks were planned in Iran and ordered from there, the newspaper said.
Saad bin Laden and other al-Qaeda leaders in Iran are protected by a secretive Iranian security force loyal to the nation's clerics and beyond the control of the central government, the report said.
The radical unit, called the Jerusalem Force, protects al-Qaeda leaders by restricting their movements to bases along the Afghanistan-Iran border.
Although the leaders are working independently of the the Iranian government, it is leading to growing pressure on Tehran.
The newspaper said Saudi Arabia had been trying to persuade Iran to extradite bin Laden and other suspects in the Riyadh bombing. Saudi officials estimate there are up to 400 al-Qaeda members in Iran.
Born in Saudi Arabia, Saad bin Laden is believed to be 24 years old and is one of the elder sons of Osama bin Laden and his first wife, according to the newspaper.
Osama bin Laden has more than two dozen children with five wives.
The Washington Post said Saad bin Laden was at his father's side in Afghanistan in the mid-1980s when al-Qaeda was formed and was groomed to take a leadership role.
The younger bin Laden has only recently emerged as an important target for the CIA and FBI.
It has only been since his arrival in Iran in the last year that he has assumed a more active role in directing al-Qaeda, and that he has been identified as a senior leader, the newspaper said. - (Reuters)