|
Iranians Flooding Into Iraq
From Jihad UnspunThe Baghdad correspondent for the Jordanian daily al-âArab al-Yawm, Ahmad Sabri, reports that Arab public opinion is following with great concern the rapidly growing Iranian presence in Iraq. Iranians are present in Iraq on the grounds that they are making pilgrimage to Shiâi holy sites such as an-Najaf and Karbalaâ but religion is frequently a pretext for the smuggling of drugs into Iraqi territory and the smuggling of Iraqi resources, antiquities, manuscripts, and even foodstuffs into Iran. Sabri writes that observers of the situation in Karbalaâ, an-Najaf, al-Kazimiyah, and Samarraâ, as well as Iraqi cities near the Iranian frontier are reporting that Iranian government agencies are working systematically and now have a widely established presence in the centers of these cities where they exploit the absence of local security and order. According to Iraqi newspaper reports, tens of thousands of Iranians cross the border into Iraq every day, ostensibly to visit Shiâi holy sites. But those who closely follow this development regard this highly significant scale of Iranian influx â said to total 2 million Iranians in all â as being of potentially serious danger to the security and welfare of Iraq as a result of the chaotic and unsupervised situation that prevails at the border crossings between the two countries. The Shiâi holy cities have taken on the appearance of Iranian cities, Sabri writes, making it difficult even to find Arabic speakers there. The Iraqi press published a feature story on the Iranian presence in Iraq that reported that the Iranian flag now flies in the courtyard that lies between the tomb of the Shiâi Imam al-Husayn and that of his brother al-âAbbas in Karbalaâ. Nor is the matter limited to such symbolic manifestations. The Iranian secret police have become highly active in Iraqi cities, recruiting Iraqis by enticement or threat, and distributing pamphlets and books that promote Iranâs political experience, according to the police chief in al-Basrah, who reported that his policemen had monitored this Iranian activity and arrested a number of agents. Eye witnesses from Karbalaâ and an-Najaf report that the cities are being swept by a wave of unprecedented inflation in the price of land and rental rates for apartments and shops. Prices for food are also on the rise because of the huge influx of Iranians into the two cities where they buy and smuggle locally available goods. The Iraqi press reports that the Iranian secret services are pouring millions of dollars into Iraq and stockpiling large quantities of weapons in specifically designated secret locations in the southern part of the country. The Baghdad papers warn of the danger that hundreds of explosive devices can be imported long-distance from Iran and that they are in fact already in the possession of arms merchants, criminal gangs, and thieves.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester 2004-02-21 |
|
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=26657 |