[Washington Post] Karen DeYoung - The number of foreign fighters entering Iraq from Syria has decreased noticeably in recent months, corresponding to a similar decrease in suicide bombings by al-Qaeda in Iraq. Border crossings from Syria that averaged 80 to 90 a month have fallen to "half or two-thirds of that over the last two or three months," said Gen. David Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Iraq. U.S. officials said they are not prepared to attribute the decrease to Syrian action, instead citing increased U.S. operations against al-Qaeda inside Iraq and stepped-up cooperation by terrorist "source" countries, such as Saudi Arabia, in prohibiting travel to Damascus.
2007-09-17 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive