Report: almost half of foreign terrorists in Iraq from Saudi Arabia

This is from a Saudi newspaper, as reported in Al Hayat. Not "neocon Zionist" propaganda.  

'246 Saudis Slipped into Iraq in 2 Years.'       
Monday, 14 January 2008 
Saudi Gazette

 

 

JEDDAH - Data seized by US forces in Iraq reveal that 246 of 600 foreign militants smuggled into the country for so-called jihadist operation over the past two years were from Saudi Arabia, the Arabic daily Al-Hayat reported. The militants were reportedly smuggled across the Syrian border to join insurgents in Iraq fighting to establish the so-called "Islamic state of Iraq."

 

The report said most of the volunteers were recruited from their home countries through contacts in mosques and universities or at the workplace. Some were reportedly recruited in Makkah during the Haj or via the Internet.

The paper attributed the information to forms confiscated by the US army some time ago during military raids on militant sites in Iraq. The forms contained the full names of the recruits, telephone numbers of their relatives and friends who enlisted them, names of the persons in Syria who received them on arrival, and the names of those who helped smuggle them into Iraq.

 

Citing the confiscated documents, the paper said that as soon as the recruits arrived in Syria, their personal effects were taken away and labeled as "contributions."

 

The recruits were then asked to select the mission they wished to carry out in Iraq. They had only two options: to be "martyrs" - terrorist terminology for suicide bombers - or militants.

 

Most recruits from the Maghreb countries took the first option while a large number of those from the Arabian Peninsula opted for the second, the paper said.
 

Source

Cross posted: Israel News  Middle East Analysis