LONDON — Al Qaida's leading contractor has taken over training Sunni
insurgents recruited for the war against the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq.
Islamic sources said the Salafist Brigade for Combat and Call has been
assigned responsibility for recruitment and training of thousands of Muslims
prepared to join the insurgency war in Iraq. The sources said the Salafists
have established camps in Algeria for training and indoctrination.
"Algeria has become a new training grounds for Al Zarqawi while training
has decreased in Syria," an Islamic source said.
The sources said President Bashar Assad ordered a crackdown on Al
Qaida-aligned training camps in Syria in mid-2005, Middle East Newsline reported. They said Assad sought to
reduce the insurgency signature in Syria in wake of the United Nations
Security Council investigation of the assassination of Lebanese former Prime
Minister Rafik Hariri in February 2005.
The London-based Al Hayat said the Salafists recruited Moroccans to
fight the United States in Iraq. The newspaper said many of the suicide
bombers in Iraq were comprised of Moroccan nationals. Some of the Moroccans
came from North Africa and others were recruited in Western Europe.
Al Hayat said on Jan. 18 that the Moroccans were recruited by the
Islamic Combatant Group, an Al Qaida-aligned network active in European
Union states. The recruits were then sent for training to Salafist camps in
Algeria.
Moroccan nationals were said to have been playing an increasing role in
Al Qaida-aligned operations in Iraq. At one point, Al Hayat said, Al Qaida
network chief Abu Mussib Al Zarqawi recommended that the Moroccan insurgents
select a leadership. But the Moroccans could not agree on their leaders.
Al Hayat said the wives of Moroccan recruits have sought to join the Al
Qaida effort. The newspaper, based on testimony of captured Moroccans, said
the wives sought to carry attacks against European security centers or join
other fighters in Iraq.
