Ahmadinejad to Zardari: 'Hand over terrorists'

Iranian president calls Zardari asking him to arrest 'known terrorists' and hand them over to Iran.

TEHRAN: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday to arrest and hand over "known terrorists," the Iranian leader's office said on its website.

In a telephone call, the Iranian president "asked Zardari to order his country's security forces to quickly arrest known terrorists and hand them over to the Islamic Republic of Iran," Ahmadinejad's office said in a statement posted on its website.

The phone call followed a suicide attack last week in the southeastern Iranian city of Chabahar that killed 39 people during a Shiite mourning procession. The attack was claimed by Sunni militant group Jundallah (Army of God), which Iran claims receives support from the intelligence services of Pakistan, Britain and the United States.

"The perpetrators of this act are not only non-Muslims, but belong to no religion," the website quoted Ahmadinejad as telling Zardari.

Jundallah says it is fighting for the rights of the ethnic Sunni Baluchis in the Sistan-Baluchestan province of Iran which borders Pakistan and Afghanistan. The group has been accused of carrying out several such deadly attacks in Sistan-Baluchestan. The website said that Zardari told Ahmadinejad Pakistan would not hesitate to help eradicate terrorism. Earlier on Monday, Iran hanged 11 members of Jundallah in Zahedan, the capital of Sistan-Baluchestan.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: December 21

Due a typographical error, an earlier version of this article had stated 'his President Asif Ali Zardari'. 'His' has been omitted.