Iran Holds Top al Qaeda Fugitives

American officials now say they are confident that Iran is holding several top al Qaeda operatives, including Saif al-Adel, said to be the third-ranking person in the organization after bin Laden and Zawahiri.
Iran is apparently now suggesting that it will exchange the al Qaeda members it has detained for members of an Iranian terrorist organization, the Mujahedeen Khalq, who are in camps under American supervision in Iraq. So far the Administration has refused to consider a quid pro quo, but that could change. While al Qaeda is by no means the only Islamorascist terror group, it is and should be our top priority. I would expect negotiations to continue, and that some kind of a bargain will eventually be struck. The sooner the better from our standpoint, since any information in the hands of the al Qaeda members detained in Iran will become less valuable as time passes.