Kyrgyzstan denies arrests in Rigi’s flight

Almost a week after Iran arrested a terrorist ringleader on a flight from the UAE to Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek in a vague statement Monday denied that any foreign nationals were arrested off the plane.

Iran on February 23 arrested Abdulmalek Rigi, the leader of the notorious terrorist group Jundallah, after his plane, en route from Dubai to Bishkek, was escorted down by Iranian fighter jets.

Informed sources have told Press TV that Rigi and his deputy were travelling with several Kyrgyz security guards.

Following his arrest, Rigi confessed that he was going to Kyrgyzstan to meet with a top American official in a military base.

Kyrgyzstan initially confirmed the arrest, and protested Iran’s action.

Taalaibek Turumbekov, the deputy chief of Kyrgyzstan’s national airline, told RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service that the plane had been forced down by two Iranian jets, and two of the 119 passengers aboard had been arrested.

On Monday, however, the Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry moved to deny the earlier confirmation.

“Information … published in some media about the detention of foreign nationals on board the Kyrgyzstan Airlines aircraft does not correspond with reality,” it said.

According to AFP, the statement did not mention Rigi by name or provide further explanation.

Rigi, who says he was supported by foreign intelligence agencies to act against Iran’s national security, is responsible for many terrorist attacks against Iranian nationals and officials.

His latest terror act claimed the lives of 35 people, including senior military commanders, at a unity gathering between Sunni and Shia tribal leaders in the borderline Pishin region in the southeast.

In March 2005, he ordered the Tassouki massacre, in which 28 people, including 21 civilians, were killed. The incident took place on the Zabol-Zahedan road near the Tassouki check post, where Jundallah terrorists wearing Iranian police camouflage stopped vehicles and forced their passengers to step out before opening fire on them.