Iran summons Kyrgyz envoy over Rigi arrest remarks

[cory777]

Source: Press TV

The Iranian Foreign Ministry has summoned Kyrgyzstan's ambassador to Tehran to protest Bishkek's denial that terrorist leader Abdolmalek Rigi was arrested on one of its airliners on February 23.

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

He also censured the use of regional countries' territory as a base to threaten Iran's national security.

Mehmanparast urged Bishkek to respect international law in the campaign against terrorism.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned the Kyrgyz ambassador shortly after Kyrgyzstan said no foreign nationals had been arrested by Iran on a Kyrgyz airliner.

"Information… published in some media outlets about the detention of foreign nationals on board the Kyrgyzstan Airlines aircraft does not correspond with reality," the Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry said in a statement issued on Monday.

However, shortly after the incident, Kyrgyz aviation authorities confirmed that two people were detained after Iranian fighter jets intercepted a Kyrgyz airliner and forced it to land at Bandar Abbas airport on February 23.

Read more: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=119822§ionid=351020101