http://www.geostrategy-direct.com/
U.S. military report: North Africa a top supplier of money, manpower to insurgency The U.S military has learned that North Africa serves as a major source of funding and manpower for the Sunni insurgency in Iraq. U.S. officials said a study by the military's European Command has traced the flow of money and recruits from such countries as Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia to Iraq. The operatives often travel through Iran and cross into the largely unpoliced border of Iraq. "The Islamic cells in North Africa have become the No. 2 supplier of funds and foreign fighters for the insurgency in Iraq," an official said. "The ties between these cells and Al Qaida in Iraq are very tight." According to the study, nearly 30 percent of all suicide bombers in Iraq come from North Africa. Algeria alone contributes up to 20 percent of suicide car bombers and another 5 percent come from Morocco and Tunisia. The Gulf Arab states still represent the biggest source of recruitment and funding for the Sunni insurgency in Iraq. The study found more than 60 percent of foreign suicide bombers come from Saudi Arabia and Yemen. But over the past year, North Africa has increased its contribution to the Sunni insurgency in Iraq with a leading contractor being the Al Qaida-aligned Salafist Brigade for Combat and Call. The Salafists maintain contact with Abu Mussib Al Zarqawi, head of the Al Qaida network in Iraq and regarded as the most lethal insurgent in that country. The Eucom report said the Salafist Brigade has recruited unskilled laborers and given them money for flights to either Syria or Turkey. >From Turkey, the recruits are driven south and smuggled into Iran and then Iraq. The Salafist Brigade and other North African cells are also transferring funds to the Sunni insurgency. The funding, estimated at about $200,000 since 2004, has been channeled through Europe to Syria and into Iraq. Most of the fighters recruited in North Africa are either captured or killed in Iraq, the study stated. But the best of them are trained in explosives, communications and other skills to bolster insurgency networks in such countries as Algeria, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia. -------------------------- 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. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
