Former US officials say Iranians helped on al-Qaeda

Iran rounded up hundreds of Arabs to help the United States counter al-Qaeda after the Sept. 11

attack after they crossed the border from Afghanistan, a former Bush administration official said Tuesday.

Many were expelled, Hillary Mann Leverett said, and the Iranians made copies of almost 300 of their passports. The copies were sent to Kofi Annan, then the secretary-general of the United Nations, who passed them to the United States, and US interrogators were given a chance by Iran to question some of the detainees, Leverett said. (AP)