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Wednesday, November 10, 2010     INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING

Syria remains key conduit for sustaining Al Qaida in Iraq

BAGHDAD — Syria is continuing to allow the transmission of resources to sustain Al Qaida's network in neighboring Iraq.

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A senior U.S. military officer said Al Qaida has been receiving fighters and other aid from neighboring Syria, Middle East Newsline reported. The officer said the support has sustained a degraded Islamic insurgency network.

"There are still a small number of foreign fighters that have been and continue to come across the border," U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Buchanan, director for strategy in Iraq, said. "Predominantly, they have come through the Syrian border, but that does not mean they originate there."


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In a briefing on Nov. 6, Buchanan expressed the first U.S. acknowledgement in 2010 that Syria has failed to block the flow of fighters and other support to Al Qaida in Iraq. Over the last year, the U.S. military said the number of foreign fighters who have entered Iraq from Syria dropped from about 100 per month to less than 10.

Buchanan did not provide figures on Syrian support to AQI, but said the flow of foreign fighters has dropped to "five to 10 percent" of that of several years ago. The general stressed that the network has been hurt in its efforts to obtain money and recruits in Iraq.

"We have had a significant impact on degrading the network that Al Qaida used to bring foreign fighters from other countries," Buchanan said. "But it has not been shut off."

Officials said the Syrian supply has enabled mass-casualty strikes in Baghdad and other cities in 2010. The suicide strikes peaked in November, with an attack on a church and explosions in Shi'ite neighborhoods in Baghdad and Karbala. The Al Qaida-aligned Islamic State of Iraq has claimed responsibility for most of the recent attacks.

"They demonstrate that Al Qaida remains determined and dangerous," Buchanan said. "I think Al Qaida remains a threat and will continue to remain a threat in the future."



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