Iran on Sunday rejected conditions set by a group holding a senior Iranian diplomat hostage in Baghdad, saying Tehran was not holding Iraqi prisoners to exchange.
The group holding Iranian diplomat Faridoun Jihani
has said it would release him if Iran frees 500 Iraqi
prisoners it is holding, Al-Jazeera television
station reported early Sunday.
It said Iran has held the prisoners since the Iran-Iraq war that ended in 1988 and the first Gulf War that ended in 1991.
However, Vice President Mohammad Ali Abtahi told The AP that there are no Iraqi prisoners in Iran nor Iranian prisoners in Iraq.
"The prisoners of war issue between Iran and Iraq is
over," Abtahi said.
"Current Iraqi officials, some of whom have been in Iran
for years dealing with the POW issue, know better than
others that there are no Iraqi prisoners in Iran," he
said. (Albawaba.com)
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
