New footage proves Bishkek wrong on Rigi’s arrest

After Kirgizstan denied that one of its passenger planes was carrying Jundallah terror chief Abdulmalek Rigi, Iran released a video footage proving Bishkek wrong.

Iranian security officials captured Abdolmalek Rigi, the long-sought leader of the Pakistan-based Jundallah terrorist organization, on February 23 while he was onboard a Kyrgyz plane on a flight from Dubai to Kyrgyzstan, where he was allegedly slated to meet US intelligence and military officials at a major American military base.

While the report was initially confirmed by Bishkek, it was dismissed out of hand six days later in a Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry statement.

“Information … published in some media about the detention of foreign nationals on board the Kyrgyzstan Airlines aircraft does not correspond with reality,” AFP quoted the Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry as saying on Monday.

The Monday statement came as a surprise to Iranian authorities, who are still looking into allegations that several Kyrgyz security guards were protecting Rigi and his deputy before the plane was grounded at an airport in Iran’s southern port city of Bandar Abbas.

In protest, the Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned Kyrgyzstan’s ambassador to Tehran to clarify the reasoning behind Bishkek government’s denial of Rigi’s capture.

On Monday, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said that there is abundant evidence proving that Rigi was arrested on a Kyrgyz plane.

The evidence Mehmanparast was referring to came in the form of a video footage which showed the step-by-step process documenting Rigi’s capture.

The video footage also shows passengers on the Kyrgyz flight waiting at the airport’s lounge and receiving gifts before re-boarding the grounded plane.

Spearheaded by Rigi, the Jundallah group has been responsible for numerous terrorist attacks in Iran.

The terrorist clan has carried out mass murder, armed robbery, kidnappings, acts of sabotage and bombings against Iranian security forces, officials and civilians.