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Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Records identify 6,000 suicide bombers in Iraq, most foreigners

BAGHDAD — Most known Al Qaida operatives in Iraq have been identified as foreign nationals according to documents captured by pro-U.S. Sunni tribes.

The records taken from Al Qaida strongholds in Diyala have documented the names of 6,000 suicide bombers. Most of the names were identified as foreign Arab nationals, Middle East Newsline reported.

"Al Qaida documented the name of every recruited suicide bomber as well as whether he was successful in his operation," an official said. "These documents have now become available to the Iraqi government."

Sabah Al Shamari, a spokesman for the Sunni-dominated Awakening Council in the Diyala province, said pro-U.S. tribes have obtained the Al Qaida records. Al Shamari, based in the Diyala capital of Baqubah, said the records showed that Al Qaida established training camps in the province's Hamrin mountains.

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Al Qaida has also been recruiting women to become suicide bombers. Al Shamari said at least 15 women, some of them widows of operatives, were being trained for suicide operations.

The records documented 6,000 suicide operations in Iraq since the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime in April 2003. The bombers have included those released from the U.S. Navy prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Diyala has been the focus of Al Qaida suicide strikes. On May 1, a women with an explosive belt and pretending to be pregnant blew herself up outside a cafe. Later, a male accomplice detonated his suicide belt as police and medical personnel arrived to evacuate the injured.


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