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NATO general says Iran secretly aiding Taliban

KABUL, Afghanistan - Iran gives political and material support to President Hamid Karzai's Western-backed government in neighboring Afghanistan, but might also be aiding the Taliban as a way of hedging its bets, NATO's top general here said yesterday.

KABUL, Afghanistan - Iran gives political and material support to President Hamid Karzai's Western-backed government in neighboring Afghanistan, but might also be aiding the Taliban as a way of hedging its bets, NATO's top general here said yesterday.

In an interview, U.S. Army Gen. Dan McNeill said Taliban fighters were showing signs of better training, using combat techniques comparable to "an advanced Western military" in ambushes of U.S. Special Forces soldiers.

Iran's possible role in aiding insurgents in Iraq has long been hotly debated, and last month some Western and Persian Gulf governments charged that the Islamic government in Tehran was secretly bolstering Taliban fighters.

"In Afghanistan, it is clear that the Taliban is receiving support, including arms from . . . elements of the Iranian regime," British Prime Minister Tony Blair wrote in the May 31 issue of the Economist.

Iran, which is also in a dispute with the West over its nuclear program, denies the Taliban accusation, calling it part of a broad anti-Iranian campaign. Tehran says it makes no sense that a Shiite-led government like itself would help the fundamentalist Sunni Taliban.

McNeill, the commander of 36,000 soldiers in NATO's International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, said indications on the ground cut both ways.

There is "ample evidence" Iran is helping Karzai's administration, particularly with road construction and electricity in western Afghanistan, he said in the interview.

But, he added, "I have heard officials in the Afghan government say that the Iranian government has provided some support to political opponents of the Karzai administration.

"I suspect that's probably true, and I don't doubt that somewhere the Iranians may have helped the Taliban.

"So what does that add up to? It makes me think of a major American corporation that will give political campaign money to three or four different candidates for president of the United States. Somebody is going to come out on top. This corporation wants to be aligned with whoever comes out on top."