Iraq Cop Denies Iran's CIA Claims

Source: CBS News

(CBS/AP) An Iraqi police official quoted by Iranian state media as saying three detained American tourists are CIA agents has told CBS News he never made any such allegations.

Iran's state-run Al-Alam television reported Monday that, according to Colonel Anwar Haj Omar of the Halabjah police force, the three errant hikers who crossed into Iranian territory are CIA operatives.

It seems that Omar was first quoted by another Iranian media organization, Ayandeh news.

The report ran as a text statement at the bottom of the screen during Al-Alam's broadcast, according to a BBC monitoring service.

Omar told CBS News' Baghdad bureau he had not told any news organization that the three Americans being held by Iranian authorities were CIA operatives.


Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/08/03/world/main5205995.shtml

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"These three people were agents working with the CIA and were arrested near the resort town of Ahmed Awaa," the Press TV report quoted Omar as telling Ayandeh.

I still think the hiking story doesn't pass the smell test. I just don't believe a thing based on Press TV.