The U.S. assessment matched that of Iraqi intelligence, Middle East Newsline reported, which determined
that the Al Qaida network in Syria was responsible for the spate of
mass-casualty suicide strikes in Baghdad in mid- and late 2009. The U.S.
military has
concluded that Al Qaida operatives were working with agents of the former
Saddam Hussein regime to destabilize the Iraqi government of Prime Minister
Nouri Al Maliki.
The intelligence community has assessed that Syrian President Bashar
Assad made a decision to enable Al Qaida to operate near Iraq. Officials
said the Assad regime has received tens of millions of dollars in bribes as
well as a
pledge that Syria would not be targeted by the movement led by Osama Bin
Laden.
Officials said the Al Qaida presence in Syria was linked to Bin Laden
and his aides in Afghanistan and Pakistan. They cited the arrival of a
senior Al Qaida cleric, Issa Al Masri, in June 2009, said to have bolstered
the Islamic network with funding.
"Al Qaida made a decision that it was safer to place a large part of
its assets in eastern Syria than be pursued by the U.S. military in Iraq,"
the official said.
Officials said Al Masri, who had been based in Pakistan, became
responsible
for the transfer of weapons and funds from Syria to Iraq. They said the
Assad regime has allowed Al Masri to reside in Damascus.
Two senior Saddam operatives have been working out of Syria. Iraq has
asked for the extradition of Sattam Farhan and Mohammed Yunis Al Ahmed, said
to be living in Damascus under the protection of Syrian intelligence.
"The targets of the [Al Qaida] bombings are different," another official
said. "It's no longer putting a bomb in every Shi'ite market. It's more
directed to bringing down the government."