(Los Angeles Times) Greg Miller and Tyler Marshall - Al-Qaeda's top operative in Iraq, Abu Musab Zarqawi, is drawing growing numbers of Iraqi nationals to his organization, U.S. officials and Iraqi government leaders say. Iraqis now accounted for "more than half his organization," a U.S. official said. The Iraqis under Zarqawi's wing could provide him with better intelligence, and give legitimacy to a group viewed by many Iraqis as unwanted outsiders. In addition, Iraqi recruits are being exposed to the workings of a highly efficient extremist group. Mowaffak Rubaie, Iraq's national security advisor and a former Shiite activist, said "there's no doubt" that once-nationalistic elements of the insurgency were drifting toward Zarqawi and his extremist Salafi sect, also known as Wahhabism, which seeks to establish a puritanical society modeled on early Islamic times. Officials described a steady flow of Saudis, Yemenis, and other Arab nationals into the country, but said foreign fighters accounted for less than 10% of the insurgents in Iraq.
2005-09-16 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive