Tuesday, July 06, 2004
Few Detainees in Iraq Are Foreign Fighters
Tue Jul 6, 2:33 PM ET
Reuters
By Charles Aldinger
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Only 90 of the more than 5,700 people in custody in Iraq (news - web sites) as security risks are foreign fighters, defense officials said on Tuesday, a figure that suggests the Bush administration may have overstated the role of outside militants in the deadly insurgency.
The officials, who asked not to be identified, said the U.S. military command handling security detention facilities in Iraq confirmed a report in USA Today that fewer than 2 percent of those in custody were foreigners.
The small percentage indicates the war in Iraq may not have attracted very many Islamic militants from other countries.
The Bush administration has insisted that foreign insurgents are playing a key role in Iraq, led in part by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Jordanian-born Zarqawi is leader of the Jama'at al-Tawhid and Jihad, which has claimed several deadly suicide bombings, assassinations of Iraqi officials and the kidnapping and beheadings of a South Korean and an American hostage.
Of the 90 foreign captives, about half are from Syria and others are from Arab countries including Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Yemen and Saudi Arabia, defense officials told Reuters.
Reuters
By Charles Aldinger
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Only 90 of the more than 5,700 people in custody in Iraq (news - web sites) as security risks are foreign fighters, defense officials said on Tuesday, a figure that suggests the Bush administration may have overstated the role of outside militants in the deadly insurgency.
The officials, who asked not to be identified, said the U.S. military command handling security detention facilities in Iraq confirmed a report in USA Today that fewer than 2 percent of those in custody were foreigners.
The small percentage indicates the war in Iraq may not have attracted very many Islamic militants from other countries.
The Bush administration has insisted that foreign insurgents are playing a key role in Iraq, led in part by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Jordanian-born Zarqawi is leader of the Jama'at al-Tawhid and Jihad, which has claimed several deadly suicide bombings, assassinations of Iraqi officials and the kidnapping and beheadings of a South Korean and an American hostage.
Of the 90 foreign captives, about half are from Syria and others are from Arab countries including Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Yemen and Saudi Arabia, defense officials told Reuters.
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