http://www.geostrategy-direct.com/
Syrian agents trained Iraq-bound insurgents in asymmetrical warfare BAGHDAD � Syrian intelligence trained numerous Sunnis in abductions, executions and car bombings against the U.S.-led coalition and the interim government in Baghdad. For the first time, Iraqi authorities have presented details of Syrian support for and sponsorship of insurgency groups as well as their attacks on the U.S. military and its Iraqi allies. Authorities have presented Syrian and Iraqi nationals who recalled their recruitment and training by Syrian intelligence for the anti-American operation in Iraq. On Feb. 23, Iraqi state television broadcast the confessions of nearly a dozen people who identified Syria as their employer in the insurgency in Iraq. The men included a purported Syrian intelligence officer and his aides recruited to infiltrate Iraq in a mission that reflected Syrian fear that it was also a target of the United States. The Syrian-sponsored operatives said Syria and the Saddam Hussein regime planned the insurgency nearly two years before the war against Baghdad in March 2003. They said much of the training of the Syrian-sponsored insurgents took place in Pakistan. Anas Ahmed Al Issa said he was a lieutenant in Syrian intelligence from the northern Syrian city of Aleppo and was recruited to train insurgents in Iraq. The 30-year-old said he was part of a group called the Al Fatah Army and sent to Iraq to ensure steady attacks on U.S. troops in an effort to prevent them from moving against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad. "We were recruited and ordered to cause chaos in Iraq, to stop America from reaching Syria," Al Issa told Al Iraqiya television. "We received all the instructions from Syrian intelligence. I had to send a report to Syria about how the operations were proceeding." It was the first time Iraq aired the confessions of a Syrian intelligence officer said to have been involved in the Sunni insurgency in Iraq. In 2004, Defense Minister Hazem Shaalan repeatedly accused Syria of providing significant support for the insurgency and pledged to release evidence. U.S. officials have also identified Syria as the leading supporter of the Sunni insurgency. Despite numerous appeals, Syria has refused to shut down the exiled Saddam command based in Damascus, believed to be financing the insurgency in Iraq. Al Iraqiya television began with a briefing by an Iraqi military officer who discussed Syria's support for Sunni insurgents. The unidentified officer said Syrian intelligence has sponsored a range of Sunni insurgency groups, including those linked to Abu Mussib Al Zarqawi, regarded as the most lethal insurgent in Iraq. Later, Al Issa spoke for 15 minutes on his activities in Iraq. He said that in 2001 he was offered money by Syrian intelligence Col. Fahdi Abdullah to help organize and train the insurgency in Iraq after Damascus determined that the United States would soon attack the Saddam regime. "I was trained in explosives, killing, spying, kidnapping," Al Issa said. "After one year, I went to Iraq with Fahdi Abdullah." The television report featured interviews with 10 other Iraqi nationals, who along with Al Issa were captured in the northern city of Mosul. All of them said they were recruited by Syrian intelligence. In a broadcast on Feb. 23, Al Iraqiya, funded by the United States, interviewed men identified as Egyptian and Sudanese nationals trained by Syria to attack the coalition in Iraq. The foreign Arab nationals were not linked to Al Issa's group. A major task of Al Fatah Army was to abduct and behead Iraqis and foreigners suspected of cooperating with the U.S.-led coalition. Al Issa said an operative was required to behead at least 10 people before he could be considered for promotion to cell leader. Syrian intelligence was said to have provided the funding, weapons and equipment for the cell headed by Al Issa. Al Issa said members of his cell received $1,500 a month from Damascus. Shahab Sabawi, a purported deputy of Al Issa, said Al Fatah recruited him in 2001 by an Iraqi named Abu Bakr. Sabawi, who claimed to be an army lieutenant colonel in Saddam's military, said he trained for nearly a year in Pakistan. "He [Abu Bakr] offered to take us on a training trip to Islamabad," Sabawi said. "He told us that we could develop our skills, give us information about how to make car bombs and carry out kidnappings." >From Pakistan, Sabawi traveled to Syria for additional training. He said that in 2003, following Saddam's ouster, he received one month of instruction in Syria in beheadings and car bombings. In Iraq, Sabawi said, Al Fatah assembled car bombs that targeted U.S. soldiers and officers from the Iraqi National Guard. "Syrian intelligence officers were supervising our training," Sabawi said. "We were ready to fight the Americans because any Iraqi, any Muslim, can't live under occupation." ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> DonorsChoose. A simple way to provide underprivileged children resources often lacking in public schools. Fund a student project in NYC/NC today! http://us.click.yahoo.com/EHLuJD/.WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 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