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Iraq
Ansar Militants Returning to Surrender
2003-04-07
Edited for content and length:
Members of Ansar al-Islam, the extremist Muslim group pushed from its northern Iraq enclave by U.S. and Kurdish forces a week ago, have begun surrendering at the Iranian border where hundreds of fighters sought refuge. At least a dozen fighters surrendered today to Kurdish officials, and negotiations were underway to receive at least 150 more, said an official of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), which controls the eastern half of the Kurdish autonomous zone and whose militia joined with U.S. Special Forces to rout the group. "The numbers are fluctuating," said the official, who asked not to be named. "A bunch crossed the border themselves." A PUK delegation has traveled to Tehran, the Iranian capital, to demand the return of scores of Arabs who had fought alongside Ansar's fighters. "We want them to deliver the Arab Afghans back to us," said the PUK official.
Taliban and Arab friends who lost in Afghanistan, and now lost in Iraq. I'm betting the senior leaders will be allowed to pass through Iran and the cannon fodder are refused entry.
When U.S. Special Forces led 6,000 Kurdish militiamen against Ansar positions on March 28, Ansar fighters fled to Iran, which detained at least the Kurdish members of Ansar. They began trickling back over the weekend, inquiring whether a previous offer of amnesty remained open, the PUK official said.
But the whereabouts of the Arab fighters is not clear. Last year Iran returned to their home countries several dozen al Qaeda members who had crossed into Iran from Afghanistan after the U.S. attack on that country. Diplomats and other sources noted, however, that several senior al Qaeda figures continued to find refuge in Iran. How many Ansar fighters remain alive is not known. U.S. Special Forces commanders told reporters after the battle that of about 700 Ansar fighters, more were killed than escaped. But because many died in caves or on remote ridges, a casualty count was not available. Kurdish sources said 22 of their militiamen died, about half the figure announced earlier.
Good job, now just keep the ones who surrender on a short lease. We'll take the Arabs to the Gitmo Hilton.

They were saying on the teevee yesterday that the Ansar website continues just as bloodthirsty and malevolent as ever. Seems Abdullah Shafae made it out in the nick of time. A website proves nothing — I could have the Nebraska Liberation Front website up and running in 12 hours, complete with stories of victorious NLF forces storming Omaha and flocks of converts to the Church of the Divine Elvis as the One True Religion. Their strength was estimated at 600-700 and the corpse counts seem to be approaching that, so it's likely only Abdullah and his web designer got away. Probably it's dead, until he can come up with more suckers to take another collection of shacks in the hills and convert the locals at gunpoint.

But Ansar's only the ucky yellow head on that particular Boil of Islam. It was formed out of three existing groups, one of which — al-Tawhid — seems to have been where they kept the international wing, run by Zarqawi. They're the bunch who were running the chem weapons labs, training the Algerians in Pankisi Gorge, and sending them into Europe to dole out ricin to the waiting Infidels. They're the wing it's essential to wipe out. Most of the rest of it appeared to be cannon fodder, and not particularly bright cannon fodder at that.
Posted by:Steve

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