Egyptian, Sudanese Jihadi Volunteers Suspected by Iraq?
This wire service compilation done by the Daily Star adds more information on foreign detainees in Iraq. As I read it, in addition to the over 160 suspected foreign fighters held by the US, the Iraqi Ministry of Interior is holding another 560 such foreigners. They had arrested 4 times that number in recent months but appear to have cleared the others. Although they briefly detained some 461 Iranians, they let all of them go. Presumably these were pilgrims to the Shiite shrines who for one reason or another fell under suspicion. The LA Times reported yesterday that nearly half of the detainees in US military custody are Saudis. Not so for the suspected jihadis held by the Iraqis. They have only 9 Saudis. About half of their detainees are Egyptian, and a fifth are Sudanese. The Iraqi security services clearly think their biggest problem is jihadi volunteers from the Nile Valley. But the picture emerging from the two sets of detainees is that the publics of the two main US allies in the Middle East, Saudia and Egypt, are the most likely to fall under suspicion of supporting the insurgency. While suspicion falls on some Iranians, they appear to be cleared quickly and released. The Daily Star writes:
"He reports that among those still being questioned, "11 were Jordanians; 64 Syrians; nine Saudis; two Algerians; six Moroccans; six Yemenis; two Libyans; 57 Palestinians; 284 Egyptians; 113 Sudanese, two Emiratis; three Lebanese and one Somali."
All these statistics that are coming out completely undermine the discourse in Washington, DC, about the war. The Iranian and Syrian governments are not the problem. Osama Bin Laden is not the problem. Sunni Arabs, mainly Iraqis, objecting to American and Shiite and Kurdish dominance is the problem. The foreign detainees are a miniscule group compared to the 19,000 detainees in Multinational Force prisons.
McClatchy reports political violence on Sunday. At least 22 dead bodies were found in the capital, victims of sectarian death squad killings (mostly Sunnis killed by Mahdi Army elements, probably).
The Daily Star reported, "10 people were killed by a car bomb in central Baghdad, Iraqi police said. Twenty-five people were wounded by the blast which ripped through shops and restaurants near Hussein Square in Baghdad's mainly Shiite Jadriyya district. Two women were among the dead. In other violence, seven Kurdish guards were killed near the Iranian border in normally calm northern Iraq, in an attack police and a local official blamed on Al-Qaeda-linked militants."
PS.?for an important new development in Pakistan, see IC Global Affairs.
Traveling through Thursday without much internet access; postings may be limited or timed oddly. Check back from time to time.
Labels: Iraq
posted by Juan Cole @ 7/16/2007 12:30:00 AM
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9 Comments:
Juan Cole wrote:
"The LA Times reported yesterday that nearly half of the detainees in US military custody are Saudis. "
There's a mistake here that gives the erroneous impression that the bulk of the Iraq insurgency is made up of Saudis. Please correct this. The LA Times wrote that half of the foreign prisoners held by the U.S. are Saudis. Of the total number of prisoners held by the U.S. in Iraq Saudis make up less than half of one percent.
-thorne
The main points the senate are holding against Iran are the weapons and training they may be giving to the insurgency. It may be that the Iranians are not involved in the same way as the Egyptians and Saudis, but are still involved. Since the Iraqi government is seeking closer ties to Iran, it is possible that foreign Iranian fighters are getting different treatment (if there are any). In any case, Iran won't stay on the side-lines forever.
Foreigners may account for only a small share of insurgents, but they may help point out why a post-occupaton "peacekeeping" force staffed by Sunnis from neighboring countries may not work. Their idea of "majority rule" would be the opposite of that of the Iraqi Shiites.
One wonders if the foreign Arabs detained in Iraq enter with visas or if they simply stream across a border policed by agents who are either complicit or half asleep. Do the Saudis liberally give passports to young men who apply to be "missionaries" or "aid workers"? MIght some of the Egyptians go to Kuwait as guest workers, then sneak into Iraq by land? Were Syria the principal culprit in the flows, the US government would certainly have made a huge scandal already. As usual, the US press corps is unable or unwilling to investigate the topic. Not only is it dangerous and require knowledge of Arabic, but the editors probably do not encourage stories outside the box.
Juan,
couldn't it be that, since the Iraki government is mainly shia, they systematically clear shia detainees and suspect the sunni ones ?
Fabrice
An update about Haleh Esfandiari, coercion factor unknown.
Iran Focus
Tehran, Iran, Jul. 16 – Iranian state television aired footage on Monday of two detained Iranian-Americans, in a move that was reminiscent of the parading of 15 British sailors on state television earlier this year.
State television showed images of Haleh Esfandiari, 67, and Kian Tajbakhsh, 45, both making statements, although it was not clear what they were saying.
At one point Esfandiari who was dressed in black said that she was an “element” in the “velvet revolution in Georgia”.
The report said that further footage would be aired on Wednesday at 21:45 local time.
Esfandiari heads the Middle East program of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and Tajbakhsh works with George Soros' Open Society Institute.
Source
...and on the lighter side of international espionage, if there IS such a thing as "the lighter side" of espionage.
Western Spy Ring Works For Peanuts In Iran
Squirrel spy ring? Thats nuts! Thu. 12 Jul 2007
Sky News
Police in Iran are reported to have taken 14 squirrels into custody - because they are suspected of spying.
The rodents were found near the Iranian border allegedly equipped with eavesdropping devices.
The reports have come from the official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).
When asked about the confiscation of the spy squirrels, the national police chief said: "I have heard about it, but I do not have precise information."
The IRNA said that the squirrels were kitted out by foreign intelligence services - but they were captured two weeks ago by police officers.
A Foreign Office source told Sky News: "The story is nuts."
But if true, this would not be the first time animals have been used to spy.
During World War II the Allied Forces used pigeons to fly vital intelligence out of occupied France.
More recently, US marines stationed in Kuwait have used chickens as a low-tech chemical detection system.
And it is well documented that dolphins have been used to seek out underwater mines.
It is even claimed that M15 once planned to recruit a team of specially-trained gerbils as a secret weapon to sniff out spies.
Source
Professor Cole, I don't know if you saw this article yet, but I thought you'd be interested:
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L16763220.htm
Mr. Cole, if jihadism isn't motivating these foreign fighters who are entering Iraq then what is?
Just raw hatred of America? Maybe but someone is still helping them get there and providing them with suicide vests like the 200 just found on the Syrian border and means of getting to Iraq and I just don't see any evidence of native Iraqis going to Sudan or Egypt to recruit these guys.
If you have some evidene of this please post it.
The interesting thing about the Egyptians is the link to al Masri and his native country yet this means someone with legit al Qaeda credentials (worked with Zawahiri since the 80's) may be involved in at least some portion of the violence in Iraq.
I wish you could comment on the new GOP meme that "it's 130 deg in Iraq" as a reason for them to go on vacation. I would bet anything that it is closer to 78% in the posh air-conditioned facilities in the green zone. The Iraqi puppets are not suffering out in the country. As a matter of fact, most of them don't even stay inside Iraq most of the time. Yet the media continues to reinforce this myth that they are all sweating it out in 130 deg mud huts. Total lie.
Your post contains a very significant error. You state that the Iraqis only have nine Saudis in custody. But that is not what Rubaie told Okaz. He told them, "about 160 Saudi militants have been tried in Iraq for taking part in its insurgency while hundreds of others are in detention." The reference to nine Saudis was only with regard to certain "recent" arrests he alluded to (and I suspect a part of the larger pattern of passive/aggressive behavior the Bush amdinsitration and their lackeys in Iraq have displayed toward the Saudis).
The story of the role Saudi nationals have played in leading the foreign insurgency in Iraq has been developing for years. I would encourage you to check out www.asecondlookatthesaudis.com for more info on this.
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