Posted on 06/12/2003 7:26:47 AM PDT by BallandPowder
WASHINGTON - U.S. troops in Iraq have arrested a group of suspected Islamic militants who intelligence officials believe are associated with the al-Qaida terrorist network, administration officials said yesterday.
The officials, who cautioned that the suspects are still being interrogated and that information about their identities remains "squishy," said U.S. soldiers acting on information supplied by the Central Intelligence Agency arrested the men in Baghdad several days ago.
Although the officials also said that the United States so far has found no evidence that Saddam Hussein provided weapons or other material support to al-Qaida or cooperated in planning terrorist operations, the arrests could help bolster the Bush administration’s allegations that terrorists affiliated with al-Qaida were operating in Iraq.
The administration’s pre-war case against Iraq, and especially its allegations that Saddam Hussein’s regime had chemical and biological weapons and ties to al-Qaida, has come under increasing scrutiny lately as U.S. troops in Iraq have failed to find either the weapons or the terrorist ties.
The officials said those arrested included several suspected associates of Abu Musab al Zarqawi, a Palestinian described by the Bush administration as "an associate and collaborator of Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida lieutenants."
The group also included suspected members of Ansar al Islam, or Partisans of Islam, a Kurdish Islamic extremist group, the officials said.
Officials provided no further details of the arrests, but said there’s evidence that Zarqawi’s group directed terrorist operations in the Middle East and Western Europe.
The intelligence officials said they believe the group in the Iraqi capital oversaw a plot in London to manufacture ricin, a deadly toxin made from castor beans; plotted the murder in October of U.S. diplomat Lawrence Foley in Jordan; and was planning other terrorist attacks in Western Europe.
The intelligence officials said Saddam’s regime apparently allowed Zarqawi’s group to operate with impunity, in much the same way that administration officials charge that senior al-Qaida leaders have been directing terrorist operations from sanctuary in neighboring Iran.
One official said it’s impossible to believe that Saddam’s ubiquitous security and intelligence apparatus was unaware of Zarqawi’s Baghdad cell or its operations.
He also noted that Zarqawi had a leg amputated while he was in Baghdad, the result of wounds suffered in Afghanistan.
U.S. intelligence officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the classified nature of the case, said there’s evidence that Zarqawi himself is now in Iran.
"There are questions about whether he is in custody or not," said a senior U.S. official.
Iran denies the allegations, and says it’s arrested some al-Qaida members.
More on the Al-Qaida & Saddam linkage that the Demonrats continue to deny.
I would imagine that the reason we haven't heard anything is to prevent giving intelligence to any Saddam loyalists who might want to try and free some of their brother scums... Gitmo is a long way away from where the action took place.
I also think that any big name prisoners are no longer in Iraq and are being interrogated someplace very private and secluded...
Also no words on those famous underground tunnel complexes in Baghdad and Tikrit. Something really interesting must be going there, if they are kept in such a secrecy.
It all comes down to getting the media occupied. There are enough material from chasing WMDs, lootings, and sporadic ambushes, which the media can milk for a long time.
I have.
We're making them listen to the Barney theme song and "It's a Small World" 24/7 (no, I am NOT making this up).
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I said it before and I'll say it again.
Man, that's just mean.
I hear it's hotter than hell at Diego.
It is -- and it isn't. (Hard to keep track of all these rodents.) From the Australian Attorney General's website -- note the date of Ansar's formation:
Ansar Al-Islam is a Kurdish Sunni Islamic extremist group which follows the same fundamentalist interpretation of Islam as Al Qaida and forms part of the Al Qaida network.
Formerly known as Jund al-Islam (Soldiers of Islam), Ansar Al-Islam was established in September 2001 as a result of a merger of several Kurdish Sunni groups, including a splinter faction of the Islamic Movement of Kurdistan.
Ansar Al-Islam is based in north-eastern Iraq and is dedicated to assisting Al Qaida in establishing an Islamic Caliphate throughout the Islamic world.
The leadership of Ansar Al-Islam includes Kurdish and Arab identities in Iraqi Kurdistan. Mullah Krekar, a senior leader with Norwegian citizenship, is currently under arrest in Oslo. Krekar has been charged with financing terrorism.
Ansar Al-Islam is closely affiliated with Al Qaida.
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