An investigation by The Telegraph has discovered Syrian mosques are providing men, money and weapons to Iraqi insurgents, the newspaper said Thursday. While the Syrian government insists it is doing everything possible to stem the flow of people and goods along its porous 400-mile border with Iraq, the newspaper said it had learned several hundred Syrians are recruited, equipped and sent to Iraq every month. Iraqi exiles told the newspaper members of Saddam Hussein's former Baathist regime pay $3,000 a month to the families of the fighters. Under intense pressure from the United States and the interim Iraqi government, Syria recently began building an earthen rampart along its frontier with Iraq and has closed crossing points. "We are doing our best," said Adham Marmadi, a Syrian foreign ministry official. "We have long borders that cannot be controlled fully." The U.S. military estimates there are as many as 2,000 foreign fighters in Iraq, many from Syria. |
