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NEWSWEEK: Roughly 300 Qaeda-Linked Kurdish Militants Are Holed Up in Iranian Border Towns; Training New Recruits for Raids Into Iraq

Press Release

NEW YORK, Oct. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. and Kurdish security officials tell Newsweek that roughly 300 militants of a Qaeda-linked Kurdish group, Ansar Al-Islam, are holed up in small Iranian towns along the border with Iraq. The group seems to be recruiting new members in Baramawa, a Kurdish refugee camp inside Iran, reports Special Correspondent Babak Dehghanpisheh in the October 13 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands Monday, October 6).
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20031005/NYSU003 )
For 18 months Ansar had waged a fratricidal jihad against its secular Kurdish neighbors instead of helping them fight Saddam Hussein. After the U.S. assault on its enclave last March, the group seemed to vanish, and though Tehran insists that none of Ansar's 900 or so fighters were allowed into Iran, many of the group's survivors tell Newsweek they did indeed flee there and are now sneaking back across the border to continue their battle against the West.

L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator in Iraq, estimated that "several hundred" Ansar fighters have returned from Iran since spring. "They're a very dangerous terrorist group," said Bremer, "and that's a lot of terrorists." Ansar infiltrators are prime suspects in several recent truck bombings in Iraq, including the explosion outside the Jordanian Embassy and the destruction of the U.N.'s Baghdad headquarters.

Dozens of Ansar foot soldiers have been captured in recent months and are being interrogated by U.S. and Kurdish intelligence officials. The prisoners who were made available to Newsweek presented an unsettling picture. The young men themselves were a diverse lot, not unlike the rank and file of any fighting organization. But they described a group that has mutated and adapted since being forced out of its former base in Iraq, and whose leaders have an implacable hatred of America.

The fighting force is said to have been reorganized into small units of 10 to 15 members, each headed by an "emir." Most captured operatives have been unarmed. Before leaving Iran they were told only where to go for further instructions, usually a shop or house near the border where they would be sent on to another meeting place. Only after several stops would they receive weapons and specific orders for an attack.

Meanwhile Ansar's spiritual leader Mullah Krekar, who's living in Oslo, Norway, tells Investigative Correspondent Mark Hosenball that the American presence in Iraq is "like any other occupation that happened in history. Everyone knows that Muslims must do jihad against occupation everywhere."

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/031005/nysu012a_1.html

Leader underlined people's faith

2003/10/06
IRIB

Tehran, Oct 6 - Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei said on Monday that the Islamic Republic is dependent upon the faith, awareness and determination of the people.

In a meeting with the Friday Prayers leaders from across the country, the Supreme Leader said that all the governing bodies are expected to encourage the people to bolster their faith, insight, happiness and spirit.

The Supreme Leader said that every individual has effective role in protecting the Islamic Republic and advised the Friday Prayers leaders to preach the people about the reality and enlightening them to strengthen their resolve and religious beliefs.

The Supreme Leader said that the Friday Prayers congregationis the influential and extensive venue to discuss the needs of the time and that competent prayers leaders have turned the congregation to a media to address every aspect of the community life.

The Supreme Leader said that the Islamic Republic gives importance to the guidance of the Islamic nations and appreciates the resurrection of the Muslim world thanks to the triumph of the Islamic Revolution in Iran (in 1979).

"Though the propaganda machine of the arrogant powers and the Zionists have campaigned to prevent nations from knowing the realities in Iran, but, the fact is that the Islamic Republic has turned to a source of hope and spiritual support for the Muslims cross the globe."

The Supreme Leader said that the Iraqi people both Shia or Sunni have shown their commitment to Islam and that the masses in all Muslim states call for sovereignty of Islam and they take every opportunity to voice the call.

"The arrogant powers resorted to every conspiracy to undermine the Islamic Republic.

They encouraged Saddam Hussein to attack Iran and embarked on waves of terrorist operations to assassinate prominent religious or political leaders.

But, the Islamic Republic succeeded in safeguarding independence of the country, establishing freedom of expression, administering the country by holding democratic elections and making great achievements," the Supreme Leader said.

The Supreme Leader said that the scientific progress and gaining access to nuclear technology are examples of Iranian nation's innate talents.

"The arrogant powers well know that Iran doesn't have nuclear arms.

They are anxious about Iran's acquisition of the nuclear technology, because they know that it will help Iran achieve industrial progress.

They don't want Iran to attain industrial and economic development while the country seeks justice and freedom in the international community," the Supreme Leader said.

Prior to the Supreme Leader's remarks, Friday Prayer Leader Ayatollah Ali Meshkini said that the Friday Prayers leaders are the teachers of ethics who shoulder heavy burden, so they should respect piety and sincerity.

http://www.iribnews.com/Full_en.asp?news_id=189713

(( Yes, lol... They don't want Iran to attain industrial and economic development while the country seeks justice and freedom in the international community," the Supreme Leader said. Who are you talking to, Mr. Leader? some Kids? Wake Up! ))