Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
CAIRO, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Nearly all of the suicide bombers who have
carried out attacks in Iraq have been Arabs who crossed into the country
from Syria, Iraq's national security adviser, Mowaffaq al-Rubaie said on
Sunday.
Most of the suicide bombers were Saudi citizens, Rubaie added. U.S,
British and Iraqi officials have demanded Syria do more to stem the flow of
foreign fighters crossing its border into Iraq and close training camps on
its soil.
"We do not have the least doubt that nine out of 10 of the suicide
bombers who carry out suicide bombing operations among Iraqi citizens ...
are Arabs who have crossed the border with Syria," Rubaie told journalists
in Cairo.
"Most of those that blow themselves up in Iraq are Saudi nationals,"
he added.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said that Syria wants a stable
Iraq and does not support insurgents. He has also said he asked the U.S. for
help in sealing the border but received none.
Saudi Arabia last week rejected criticisms that it had not done
enough to fight terrorism and said the U.S. should do more to end the
Arab-Israeli conflict, which gave "lifeblood to the evil cult of hate".
Rubaie said the fighters, who he said included Syrians, Lebanese,
Jordanians, Egyptians, Algerians and Saudis came to Iraq through Syria, and
received logistical assistance and training inside the country.
"We want a political decision by the Syrian security agencies to
stop the penetration of suicide bombers from Syria to Iraq ... It is very
important that this decision is taken on the highest political level in
Syria," he added.
U.S.-led forces last week concluded Operation Steel Curtain in
western Iraq near the border with Syria, their latest offensive aimed at
stopping the flow of foreign fighters along the Euphrates Valley stretching
from the border to Baghdad.
U.S. and British officials have also accused Iran, Iraq's eastern
neighbour, of interfering in events in Iraq and not doing enough to stop
militants from entering Iraq to take up arms in the insurgency.
Jordanian officials said on Sunday that suicide bombers who killed
more than 50 people in attacks on luxury hotels in Amman on Wednesday were
all Iraqis.
The Jordanians said they have a woman suicide bomber in custody
whose explosives-laden built failed to detonate. She has been identified as
Iraqi and related to a former lieutenant of al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu
Musab al-Zarqawi.
carried out attacks in Iraq have been Arabs who crossed into the country
from Syria, Iraq's national security adviser, Mowaffaq al-Rubaie said on
Sunday.
Most of the suicide bombers were Saudi citizens, Rubaie added. U.S,
British and Iraqi officials have demanded Syria do more to stem the flow of
foreign fighters crossing its border into Iraq and close training camps on
its soil.
"We do not have the least doubt that nine out of 10 of the suicide
bombers who carry out suicide bombing operations among Iraqi citizens ...
are Arabs who have crossed the border with Syria," Rubaie told journalists
in Cairo.
"Most of those that blow themselves up in Iraq are Saudi nationals,"
he added.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said that Syria wants a stable
Iraq and does not support insurgents. He has also said he asked the U.S. for
help in sealing the border but received none.
Saudi Arabia last week rejected criticisms that it had not done
enough to fight terrorism and said the U.S. should do more to end the
Arab-Israeli conflict, which gave "lifeblood to the evil cult of hate".
Rubaie said the fighters, who he said included Syrians, Lebanese,
Jordanians, Egyptians, Algerians and Saudis came to Iraq through Syria, and
received logistical assistance and training inside the country.
"We want a political decision by the Syrian security agencies to
stop the penetration of suicide bombers from Syria to Iraq ... It is very
important that this decision is taken on the highest political level in
Syria," he added.
U.S.-led forces last week concluded Operation Steel Curtain in
western Iraq near the border with Syria, their latest offensive aimed at
stopping the flow of foreign fighters along the Euphrates Valley stretching
from the border to Baghdad.
U.S. and British officials have also accused Iran, Iraq's eastern
neighbour, of interfering in events in Iraq and not doing enough to stop
militants from entering Iraq to take up arms in the insurgency.
Jordanian officials said on Sunday that suicide bombers who killed
more than 50 people in attacks on luxury hotels in Amman on Wednesday were
all Iraqis.
The Jordanians said they have a woman suicide bomber in custody
whose explosives-laden built failed to detonate. She has been identified as
Iraqi and related to a former lieutenant of al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu
Musab al-Zarqawi.