Rigi's brother exposes US ties with Jundullah

Abdolhamid Rigi, the brother of Jundullah leader Abdolmalek Rigi, talks to Press TV

Revelations by the brother of Jundullah leader Abdolmalek Rigi confirm reports that the US helped the armed separatist ring carry out terror activities in Iran.

In a recent interview, Abdulhamid Rigi told Press TV that since 2005, his brother had repeatedly met with US agents in Islamabad and Karachi and communicated with them through a common link.

"In Pakistan, Malek [Abdolmalek Rigi] contacted an individual that resided in the US who then put him through to the FBI. So, Malek said that he would go to Islamabad and meet with the Americans," he explained.

"A few days after he returned from his first meeting, we asked him about it. God knows what really passed, but according to what he told us, he said he met with the Americans. As Malik was involved with al-Qaeda and the Americans knew about it, they had questioned him about it," he added.

"Malik had told them that since 2002 he had no links with al-Qaeda any more. He said he had told them that he is only against Iran and only fights against Iran. He said that he had asked the American for financial support and they had replied by asking him to meet with them again."

Abdulhamid, who blames his brother for his eventual arrest, then went on to talk about his brother's second meeting with US agents. He said that Abdolmalek had gone to the meeting alone.

He added that the militant leader did not meet again with the Americans till 2006, when he contacted them through a link in New Jersey, who went by the name of Amanollah.

Abdulhamid Rigi said that in 2005 he himself had met with the Americans once in Islamabad, where they had asked about the activities Jundullah was carrying out in Iran, their numbers, their positions and their requests.

After the meeting, he added, Malek had called the Americans to only contact him not any other ring members.

Abdulhamid said that from 2005 onwards Malik had held several "confidential" meeting with FBI and CIA agents in Karachi and Islamabad.

He added that during one of the meetings in the Pakistani capital, two female US agents had offered weapons, safe bases in Afghanistan, and professional trainers, while inquiring about how many people the group could gather for military training.

"We said we could bring two to three thousand, but we can't fund them," said Abdulhamid Rigi, adding that they had finally accepted the US proposal.

Jundullah is a Pakistan-based terror group closely affiliated with the notorious al-Qaeda organization and made up of disgruntled members of the Baluch ethnic minority.

A 2007 Sunday Telegraph report revealed that Jundullah was a CIA creation designed to achieve "regime change in Iran". The report said it was the CIA that had tried to destabilize Iran by "supplying arms-length support, supplying money and weapons" to Jundullah.

An ABC report also indicted that officials in Washington had ordered Jundullah terrorists to "stage deadly guerrilla raids inside the Islamic Republic, kidnap Iranian officials and execute them on camera" all as part of a "programmatic objective to overthrow the Iranian government."

Jundullah has orchestrated a chain of deadly bombings and violent attacks in Iran. So far, it has accepted responsibility for killing at least 16 Iranian police officers in a 2008 attack, nine Iranian security guards in 2005, and another 11 in a 2007 bombing.

The militants group also claimed responsibility for a recent mosque bombing that left at least 25 Iranians dead in the southeastern city of Zahedan.