BAGHDAD ø Iraqi officials said the Palestinian
Hamas organization has sent operatives to carry out suicide strikes in Iraq.
They said
Hamas agents were hired by both Iran as well as Abu Mussib Al Zarqawi,
the Jordanian national regarded as the lethal Sunni insurgent in Iraq, official said citing evidence from the Defense Ministry.
"There's less money for Hamas in Palestine and Syria," an Iraqi official
said. "The result is that Hamas agents have been recruited by Al Zarqawi and
Iran for operations in Iraq."
In 2003, Iraqi officials began asserting that Hamas agents were
operating in Iraq against security and military forces as well as the
coalition. So far, the government in Baghdad has not presented any evidence
of a Hamas presence, Middle East Newsline reported.
On Sept. 19, the Shi'ite-based Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution
accused Hamas of being responsible for a series of recent car bombings in
Iraq. A council representative was quoted by state-owned Iraq Television as
saying that 200 agents were sent to Iraq from Iran and have been responsible
for recent attacks.
"They have been deployed all across Iraq and launched terrorist attacks
and explosions of the Iraqi police and National Guards bases," the
representative said.
Officials said Iran began using Hamas in 2004 for operations against
police and National Guard targets in Shi'ite cities and suburbs. They said
some of the Hamas agents joined the Iranian-financed Mahdi Army, led by
cleric Muqtada Sadr, and participated in the Shi'ite revolt in April.
For his part, Sadr has termed the Mahdi Army an "extension" of Hamas and
the Beirut-based Hizbullah. Hizbullah has been sponsored and financed by
Iran and was said to have sent hundreds of operatives to Iraq.
Officials said Hamas agents were believed to be operating in several
cities controlled by Sunni insurgents, including Faluja. The U.S. military
has launched air strikes on targets of the Tawhid and Jihad group, led by
Al Zarqawi.
On Monday, U.S. aircraft conducted what the military termed a successful
precision strike on construction equipment belonging to insurgents outside
Faluja. The military said the equipment was being used to build combat
positions outside the city.