Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Most Iraqi recruits 'are Saudi or Libyan'

Thursday 22 November 2007 20:00 EST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Most of the foreign fighters involved in the Iraq insurgency come from Saudi Arabia and Libya, two of America's allies in the "war on terror", US forces have discovered from material obtained during a raid.

Documents and computers found in a tented camp used by Sunni militants near the Syrian border are said to have yielded biographical details of about 700 recruits arriving in Iraq in the past 15 months, showing that at least 60 per cent are from the two US allies.

The Saudis, one of America's longest standing allies, supplied 305, or 41 per cent, of the fighters and 137, or 18 per cent, came from Libya, where Colonel Gaddafi has become a more recent ally of Washington. Among the rest, 291 came from other North African countries.

In contrast, Syria, regularly blamed for fuelling the Sunni insurgency and named by President Bush as part of the "axis of evil", was the source of just 56, or eight per cent of the total.

The cell at Sinjar is said by the Americans to have been responsible for almost 90 per cent of foreign troops smuggled into Iraq. Their base was captured after a prolonged firefight.

However, the vast majority of the Sunni fighters in the country are Iraqi while the number of foreigners has been falling.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in