Captured terrorist describes US support

An alleged member of a Sunni Muslim group fighting the Iranian government has said in a televised confession that his group received help from the United States. Abdolmalek Rigi, the leader of Jundallah, said on state-run TV on Friday that Iranian authorities had detained him on his way to a meeting with a "high-ranking American person" in Kyrgyzstan. Rigi was reportedly seized after Iranian warplanes forced a flight from Dubai to Kyrygzstan to land at an Iranian airport. "They [Americans] said they would cooperate with us and will give me military equipment," Rigi said in Farsi in the prerecorded television statement. "They also promised to give us a base along the border with Afghanistan near Iran." He said that US officials met him in Pakistan around March 2009 and had also sought a meeting "after the last major operation we took part in". Jundallah claimed responsibility for an attack in the town of Pisheenin October 2009 that killed 42 people, including seven Revolutionary Guard commanders and several tribal leaders.