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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Soddies dominate Iraqi insurgents |
| 2005-06-22 |
| A survey on casualties of foreign insurgents active in Iraq show that more than half of them are Saudi citizens, while the next most populous group is Syrian militants, at 13 percent, and Kuwaitis following with 5.3 percent. The data, compiled by a prominent US al-Qaeda and terror expert, Evan Kohlmann, is based on the known nationalities of 300 foreign insurgents killed fighting the US-led forces or in suicide attacks between June 2003-June 2005. While most of the foreign militants who died are from neighbouring Arab nations, a few are also from European countries. "We gathered data based not just based on the state,emts amd lists published on Islamist internet forums," Kohl told Adnkronos International (AKI) "but also comparing this to information supplied by the American military and other allied nations and information in the mass media." The strong Saudi presence among the 'martyrs' in Iraq indicates that despite a Fatwa against imams who seek to recruit or encourage youngsters to take part in Jihad in Iraq recruitment in the oil-rich kingdom is continuing. Among those listed on Kohlmann's site, Globalterroralert.com, are three each from Italy and France and one each from the United Kingdom, Denmark and Spain. "They are almost always Arab immigrants who were living in Europe and then departed for Iraq" said Kohlmann. He cited the 'Italian' deaths as Rihani Lotfi, a Tunisian who died in a suicide bomb attacks in September 2003 along with two Moroccans, Kamal Morchidi (Morocco) and Hamsi Said, who lived in northern Italy. The three names were already known to investigators in Italy, where recent inquiries have uncovered various al-Qaeda-linked cells, mainly dedicated to recruitment and logistic support, "Italian military intelligence believes that at least five Muslims recruited in Italy have died in Iraq, most of them recruited in Milan and most in suicide attacks against American troops" said Kohlmann. However, he said he had not included other Italian residents on his list because he did not have "sufficient information about them". |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #2 Nice eye for type Snigum. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-06-22 15:47 |
| #1 How can they be 'insurgents' if they are not native? Congrats to the media for attaining Orwellian newsspeak. |
| Posted by: Snigum Snomomble5295 2005-06-22 15:20 |