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IRAQI POLICE SAY AL-QAEDA RECRUITING IRAQIS TO BE SUICIDE BOMBERS.

An Iraqi police officer told "The Times" of 22 March that Al-Qaeda is increasingly recruiting young Iraqis, brainwashing, and even drugging them before sending them out to commit terrorist acts against their own people. Iraqi police Colonel Karim Sultan told the British daily that raids along the Saudi border before the 2 March Ashura bombings (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 2 March 2004) led to the arrest of a dozen men in possession of audiotapes of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and some $20 million worth of narcotics.

Sultan said the drugs are shipped from Afghanistan via Iran. They are then transported to Iraq with the crowds of Iranian pilgrims that cross the border to visit the holy sites in Karbala and Al-Najaf. The drugs also made their way to the Saudi market via the same Afghan-Iran route, he said. "It's a huge network. They have a lot of different contacts. It's almost impossible to count. Bin Laden is starting to funnel his money in here," Sultan said. Regarding the recruitment, he added: "It's a long process to brainwash them. They seduce them with money, then start to use drugs on them until they are half conscious." The Iraqis are then sent out on missions. The antispasmotic prescription drug Artane is a favorite, he said, because it reportedly induces a sense of invulnerability in the user. Sultan speculated that recruitment is taking place in villages, where he has heard Al-Qaeda has sponsored lectures. Sultan said that Al-Qaeda communicates through a variety of means: Internet, satellite telephones, letters, and couriers. (Kathleen Ridolfo)

source: RFE/RL IRAQ REPORT Vol. 7, No. 11, 26 March 2004

"DIVINE INTERVENTION" AT THE IRANIAN BALLOT BOX?

Expediency Council member Habibullah Asgaroladi-Mosalman said on 11 March of the previous month's parliamentary elections, "God guided the hearts of the pious throughout this land in such a way that of the 225 elected representatives, 160 were fundamentalists," "Aftab-i Yazd" reported. Asgaroladi, who is the secretary-general of the conservative Islamic Coalition Party, added, "We witnessed divine intervention in the seventh parliamentary elections, and you must thank God for this blessing with your work." BS

source:RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 8, No. 56, Part III, 24 March 2004

comment: Divine intervention with a little help from your friends...