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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran | ||
| Syrian forces clash with Saddam ex-bodyguards | ||
| 2005-07-05 | ||
| DAMASCUS: Syrian forces captured two "terrorists" and a security officer was killed in a dawn clash with extremists who included former bodyguards of Saddam Hussein, official media said. The gun battle on Mount Qassioun overlooking the Syrian capital was the second such fire fight with extremists in recent days and comes amid intense U.S. pressure on Syria to stop militants slipping over its border into Iraq. "The clash took place early yesterday on Mount Qassioun with a group of people wanted for terrorist crimes, some of whom were former bodyguards of Saddam Hussein," the former Iraqi president, the SANA agency said. "Two terrorists were arrested after the clash," which claimed the life of security forces officer Ahmad Hijazi, it said, adding that two policemen and two other security force officers were wounded. Quoting an Information Ministry official, SANA said that the two people arrested were a Jordanian named Sharif Ayed Saeed al-Semadi and the wife of his brother Mohammad, who is on the run. Semadi and his brother escaped a Jordanian courthouse where they were being held on trial for murder and armed robbery a year ago and succeeded in fleeing the country, Jordanian police said in a statement carried on the country's official Petra news agency.
SANA said the clash took place after numerous days of searching by security forces, who were now on the trail of other members of the extremist group. According to the Al-Jazeera satellite channel, two people were killed in the clash, at least one of whom was a member of the group. The new clash came a day after SANA reported two Syrian security personnel and an "Arab extremist" were killed in a fire fight on the Lebanese border, which also saw an unspecified number of militants captured.
He said they were also part of the network set up in Syria by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the head of Al-Qaeda's branch in Iraq, to help Arab militants cross into Iraq to join the insurgency. The authorities announced last month they had dismantled the, which they said had been plotting attacks against various targets in Damascus. The group first emerged in late March when it claimed a car bombing against an international school in the Gulf emirate of Qatar in which one Briton was killed. The latest clash comes as U.S. pressure on Syria to seal its borders to insurgents becomes ever more intense. U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said last week that Syria must know foreign fighters are being funneled through its territory into Iraq and "at a minimum are tolerating it." The U.S. has also frozen the assets of Interior Minister Ghazi Kanaan and military intelligence chief Rustum Ghazali, accusing them of abetting terrorism. In a sign of the increased diplomatic strains, the U.S. Embassy in Damascus canceled its annual ceremony to mark the July 4 U.S. independence day. A diplomat said that the festivities, to which top Syrian officials are usually invited, had been replaced by voluntary work with non-governmental organizations. Additional: Wife of one of those who were detained during the Syrian security forces operation against a "terrorist" group Monday near Damascus said the group members were changing their residence place every four days. âThey have been changing their residence place every four days and moving while carrying small arms hidden in a bag or under their clothes,â wife of member of group, Mohammed Said al-Smadei said in a statement aired Tuesday by Syrian TV. She admitted that during their meetings they were planning to âstage terrorist actions and rubbery" and also planned to travel to Iraq. Syrian security forces arrested Monday two members of the group after a short clash on Qassioun mountain, which is overlooking Damascus. A Syrian officer was killed and four other security personnel injured, according to an official source at the Syrian information ministry. The source noted that initial investigations indicated that some of the group members were working as bodyguards to ousted Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein. | ||
| Posted by:Steve |
| #1 "Two terrorists were arrested after the clash," I find it revealing how the Arab official media fall all over themselves to use the word terrorist while the western MSM won't touch it with a ten-foot Saudi. |
| Posted by: Xbalanke 2005-07-05 16:37 |