[Telegraph-UK] Sean Rayment - Iran has secretly paid Iraqi insurgents hundreds of thousands of American dollars to kill British soldiers, according to a leaked government document. Jaish al-Mahdi (JAM) - also known as the Mahdi Army - one of the most violent insurgent groups operating in Basra, used money from Iran to recruit and pay young unemployed men up to $300 a month to carry out attacks against the British. Twenty-seven soldiers died and dozens were seriously injured in southern Iraq between November 2006 and May 2007, the period covered in a report by Major Christopher Job. Tory MP and former infantry commander Patrick Mercer said: "This report makes it quite clear that Iran is directly involved in funding the insurgency." He added: "The government must confront Tehran over the deaths of British troops - anything else is appeasement."
2008-05-27 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive