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Syrian Smuggling Cabal Backing Iraqi Guerrillas

(New York Post) Niles Lathem - A secret Syrian and Iraqi smuggling network that made billions of dollars busting UN sanctions during Saddam Hussein's regime is now involved in organizing and financing violent anti-U.S. guerrillas in Iraq. According to U.S. intelligence officials and Syrian exiles, the network has morphed into a command and control structure to coordinate much of the terrorist campaign in Iraq. The shadowy structure, with bases of operation in Syria, is made up of Saddam's cousins, clansmen, and ex-aides who are actively supported by some family members of Syria's ruling elite and at least two powerful Syrian generals. At the head of this network is Izzat Ibrahim al-Duri, Saddam's deputy military commander, who has a $10 million U.S. bounty on his head.
2004-10-05 00:00:00
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