12/02/2004|||110198813963689067||||||

AMONG THE SYRIANS

A disturbing report from Damascus by Telegraph journalist Jack Fairweather (registration required) shows how Syrians are openly being bussed across the border to join the Iraqi insurgents. Many are recruited at a so-called "Mujahideen Mosque" south of Aleppo. One fighter, a cook called Abdullah, explains that getting past the checkpoint is no problem at all:

Fairweather writes: "Al-Jabouri tribesmen man the border. Like the al-Dulaimy tribe that guards the southern entry points into Iraq, they are deeply hostile to the US presence and Abdullah's convoy was waved through without checks.

"The men were driven to a mosque in Mosul where, according to Abdullah, dozens of their fellow ... Inside the mosque, Abdullah was greeted by a former Iraqi military officer...For the next 80 days, Abdullah and his unit went almost every day to attack American bases with mortars, or to man mujahideen checkpoints....

A telling quote from Abdullah:

"We are Muslims, we should do jihad. We should go to Palestine but it is difficult to enter - but in Iraq it is easy to kill the Jews."

Apparently, the US is relying on the Syrians to secure the desert border. How can that make sense?

|||Clive|||http://clivedavis.blogspot.com/2004/12/among-syrians-disturbing-report-from.html|||12/02/2004 11:33:00 am|||||||||

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