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Iran says capture of rebel a blow to US
Iranian officials on Tuesday hailed the capture of a Sunni rebel leader as a major antiterrorist coup, and sought to portray his arrest as a victory over Britain, the United States and Israel, saying those countries had supported the insurgent group.
The rebel, Abdolmalek Rigi, is the leader of Jundallah, a militant group that claims to be defending Sunni Muslims in Iran's southeast and has killed hundreds of soldiers and civilians there since 2003.
Iran's intelligence minister, Heidar Moslehi, said in a news conference on state-run Press TV on Tuesday that Mr. Rigi was at an American base 24 hours before his capture, and that the United States had arranged a forged Afghan passport for him. Mr. Moslehi said that Mr. Rigi had connections to the Central Intelligence Agency and Mossad, the Israeli spy agency, and that he had met with the NATO military chief in Afghanistan in April 2008.