By The Associated Press
Saturday, January 28, 2006
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi forces clashed with insurgents Friday near the notorious airport road and other districts of western Baghdad, arresting nearly 60 people as the sounds of a rousing song, "Where are the terrorists now?" blared from police car loudspeakers.
The fiercest clashes occurred in the Jihad district along the main road to Baghdad International Airport - scene of numerous bombings and ambushes.
SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Friday, January 27, 2006
LONDON — Al Qaida's leading contractor has taken over training Sunni insurgents recruited for the war against the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq.
Islamic sources said the Salafist Brigade for Combat and Call has been assigned responsibility for recruitment and training of thousands of Muslims prepared to join the insurgency war in Iraq. The sources said the Salafists have established camps in Algeria for training and indoctrination.
"Algeria has become a new training grounds for Al Zarqawi while training has decreased in Syria," an Islamic source said.
The sources said President Bashar Assad ordered a crackdown on Al Qaida-aligned training camps in Syria in mid-2005, Middle East Newsline reported. They said Assad sought to reduce the insurgency signature in Syria in wake of the United Nations Security Council investigation of the assassination of Lebanese former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in February 2005.
The London-based Al Hayat said the Salafists recruited Moroccans to fight the United States in Iraq. The newspaper said many of the suicide bombers in Iraq were comprised of Moroccan nationals. Some of the Moroccans came from North Africa and others were recruited in Western Europe.
Al Hayat said on Jan. 18 that the Moroccans were recruited by the Islamic Combatant Group, an Al Qaida-aligned network active in European Union states. The recruits were then sent for training to Salafist camps in Algeria.
Moroccan nationals were said to have been playing an increasing role in Al Qaida-aligned operations in Iraq. At one point, Al Hayat said, Al Qaida network chief Abu Mussib Al Zarqawi recommended that the Moroccan insurgents select a leadership. But the Moroccans could not agree on their leaders.
Al Hayat said the wives of Moroccan recruits have sought to join the Al Qaida effort. The newspaper, based on testimony of captured Moroccans, said the wives sought to carry attacks against European security centers or join other fighters in Iraq.