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GEOSTRATEGY-DIRECT INTELLIGENCE BRIEF
Al-Qaida affiliates
pouring into Iraq
Ansar al-Islam fighters entering country through Iran

Posted: August 16, 2003
1:00 a.m. Eastern

© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com

Members of terror group Ansar al-Islam have been returning to Iraq from Iran, joining the hundreds of fighters based in the northern part of the country and near Baghdad, U.S. officials said.

The U.S. military suspects that Ansar carried out the bombing of the Jordanian embassy in Baghdad on Aug. 7. Eleven people were killed in the truck bombing.

Before the U.S.-led war in Iraq, Ansar insurgents were aided by Iran, which facilitated the flow of combatants into northern Iraq.

The United States has warned Iran several times to end its aid to Ansar and other insurgents in Iraq.

The U.S. military has observed an increase in the flow of al-Qaida-aligned insurgents into Iraq. These insurgents have come from Saudi Arabia and Syria, officials said.

"The one organization that we have confidence, that we know is in Iraq and in the Baghdad area, is Ansar al-Islam," said Lt. Gen. Norton Schwartz, operations director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. "It is unknown whether this particular organization was associated with the events . . . But that is an al-Qaida related organization, and one we are focusing attention on."

"Ansar al-Islam, which was in Iraq before the war, is in Iraq now, [and] is a potential threat," said Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff. "Some of those individuals have been captured in Baghdad and other parts of the country [and] are being interrogated. So, for at least in the near term, they are going to be a potential threat that we're going to have to deal with."

Last month, officials said, the military detected an enclave of foreign insurgents located near Baghdad. The military killed many of the foreign combatants.

"There was an enclave of foreign fighters that were somewhere west of Baghdad, about two-thirds of the way to the border in tents in a camp – encampment that fought very fiercely," Myers said. "But all 75 to 80 of them were killed in that engagement. They were all foreign fighters. So, no one, I don't think, believes that there is not continued infiltration, potentially, of foreign fighters into that country."

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Iran continues to serve as a haven for senior al-Qaida members. He dismissed the prospect that Tehran would extradite al-Qaida fugitives to the United States.

"With respect to Iran, it is correct that there have been and are today senior al-Qaida in Iran," Rumsfeld said. "To the extent they would be handed over to us, it would be excellent. The chances of that happening, apparently, are about zero."

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