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Syria-Lebanon-Iran | ||||
Iranian group training splodydopes for attacks in Israel and Iraq | ||||
2004-11-29 | ||||
The 300 men filling out forms in the offices of an Iranian aid group were offered three choices: Train for suicide attacks against U.S. troops in Iraq, for suicide attacks against Israelis or to assassinate British author Salman Rushdie.
Since that inaugural June meeting in a room decorated with photos of Israeli soldiers' funerals, the registration forms for volunteer suicide commandos have appeared on Tehran's streets and university campuses, with no sign Iran's government is trying to stop the shadowy movement. On Nov. 12, the day Iranians traditionally hold pro-Palestinian protests, a spokesman for the Headquarters for Commemorating Martyrs of the Global Islamic Movement said the movement signed up at least 4,000 new volunteers. Mohammad Ali Samadi, the spokesman, told The Associated Press the group had no ties to the government. And Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters recently that the group's campaign to sign up volunteers for suicide attacks had "nothing to do with the ruling Islamic establishment." "That some people do such a thing is the result of their sentiments. It has nothing to do with the government and the system," Asefi said.
"At a time when the U.S. is committing the crimes we see now, deprived nations have no weapon other than Iranian security officials did not return calls seeking comment about whether they had tried to crack down on the group's training programs or whether they believed any of Samadi's volunteers had crossed into Iraq or into Israel. In general, Iran portrays Israel as its main nemesis and backs anti-Israeli groups like Lebanon's Hezbollah. It says it has no interest in fomenting instability in Iraq and that it tries to block any infiltration into Iraq by insurgents - while pleading that its porous borders are hard to police. Samadi described the movement as independent, with no ties to groups like al-Qaida. Despite its very public canvassing for volunteers, the group can be secretive. Samadi agreed only reluctantly to an interview and insisted it be held in the basement of an unmarked building in central Tehran - not the Martyrs Foundation offices. Samadi refused to identify any of his volunteers or the wealthy sympathizers who he says underwrote their efforts.
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Posted by:Dan Darling |
#1 offer them double what they get from the Iranians if they talk to us, and tell us how the Iranians tell them to do it. If nothing else, it will raise the cost to the Irainians |
Posted by: plainslow 2004-11-29 8:56:40 AM |