The U.S. military has launched an effort to improve
security along Iraq's borders.
U.S. officials said the Coalition Provisional Authority, in cooperation
with the U.S. military and Iraqi security forces, has decided to begin the
effort by bolstering security along the border with Iran. The effort would
be based on increased forces and technology.
The U.S. effort was meant to stop the influx of Muslim insurgents into
Iraq, who have been blamed for most of the suicide operations over the last
six months. The attacks against Shi'ite targets earlier this month in which
about 200 people were killed were said to have stemmed from insurgents who
came from Iran, Middle East Newsline reported.
CPA senior adviser Dan Senor said the U.S. initiative would double the
number of security personnel along Iran's borders. Senor said authorities
would also reduce the number of entry points along the Iranian border and
hire additional immigration staff officers to stop foreign Muslim
volunteers.
"Their [security force] continuing presence underscores the importance
of improving security at Iraq's borders," Senor said.
Officials said that over the next week the coalition will begin closing
all but three points of entry into Iraq from the Iranian border. They said
Iraq's border patrol force would be doubled from the current 8,000 to 16,000
by July. Iraq would also increase the number of immigration officers on duty
from 86 to 1,000.
The new policy also calls for decreasing the number of those allowed to
cross into Iraq, requiring passports when entering the country, installing
an advanced tracking system for those entering and exiting the country, and
reducing the length of stay of visitors.
Officials said tourist visas will be issued over the next few months.
"All visitors arriving to Iraq by land will need to present a passport,
fill out an entry form, be issued a temporary entry card, and be entered
into an immigration monitoring system," Senor said.
Senor acknowledged that a key challenge will be winning the cooperation
of Iraq's neighbors to prevent infiltrators. He said CPA officials have
consulted with Iran on the new U.S. policy.
"That is a problem that we have seen to be on an increasing scale
recently, instead of decreasing," Senor said. "So we would also encourage
governments bordering Iraq to do more."
U.S. officials said the influx of Iranians could reflect a policy by the
regime in Teheran to dominate the Shi'ite community in Iraq. They said
Iranians, including suspected agents, have been steadily moving into Iraq.
"In terms of the influx of Iranians, that does continue," Gen. Ricardo
Sanchez, head of U.S. coalition forces in Iraq, said. "There is no
agreement at this point between Iran and Iraq as to the numbers that can
flow into the country, and that is a challenge that we're facing today."
Sanchez said U.S. or Iraqi authorities do not have an estimate on the
number of Iranians who have resettled in Iraq. He said many of the
Iranians cross the border without any supervision or control.
"There are some areas where they can come across undetected and
unaccounted for," Sanchez said.
Sanchez said the U.S. military was also concerned that Saddam loyalists
have used Syria to help organize the Sunni insurgency in Iraq. He
said Syria was believed to harbor former member of the regime who seek to
foment instability.
"Syria in particular has shown that they are not totally committed to
stopping the instability that is being exported out of Syria into Iraq,"
Sanchez said. "They've got to do a much better job of shutting down their
borders to keep foreigners from coming in, to keep some of the terrorists
from flowing in, and preventing them from staging [attacks from] inside of
their territory."
Officials said they could not estimate the number of insurgents who have
been moving into Iraq from Iran and Syria. They said some of the insurgents
were organized in Iraq by such groups as Ansar Al Islam and Ansar Al Sunna.
"It is a concern to us that there may be former regime elements that are
outside of the country continuing to foment instability and bringing it into
the country against the Iraqi people and against the coalition," Sanchez
added.
