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Report: 3,000 Al Qaida in Iraq from Egypt, Saudia Arabia
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SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Friday, May 11, 2007
WASHINGTON — Al Qaida has amassed 3,000 fighters to
fight U.S.-led coalition in Iraq, a U.S. report said.
The Congressional Research Service said the Al Qaida network
included 3,000 operatives. The report said the network was based on
foreign fighters, mainly from Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
"Estimated 3,000 in Iraq from many nations, including Egypt and Saudi
Arabia, but increasingly subordinate to Iraqi Sunni insurgents under ISI
banner," the CRSreport, issued in April 27, said.
Authored by Kenneth Katzman, the report did not cite a source for the
strength of Al Qaida. In the past, the U.S. military has estimated the
number of Al Qaida insurgents in Iraq from 3,000 to more than 10,000.
CRS said the strength of Sunni insurgency, believed led by Al Qaida, was
underestimated. The report said Al Qaida was responsible for 90 percent of
suicide bombings in Iraq.
"A numerically small but politically significant component of the
insurgency is non-Iraqi, mostly in a faction called Al Qaida-Iraq," the
report, entitled "Iraq: Post-Saddam Governance and Security," said.
CRS said Al Qaida has been supported by Saudi Arabia and Syria. The
report said recruits have trained in Syria before they headed for Iraq, and
that Saudis financed the Sunni insurgency.
Copyright © 2007 East West
Services, Inc.
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