Bush's allies are killing Americans in Iraq -- most foreign fightersare Saudi and Libyan

BAGHDAD -- Saudi Arabia and Libya, both considered allies by the United

States in its fight against terrorism, were the source of about 60

percent of the foreign fighters who came to Iraq in the past year to

serve as suicide bombers or to facilitate other attacks, according to

senior American military officials.

The data come largely from a trove of documents and computers

discovered in September, when American forces raided a tent camp in

the desert near Sinjar, close to the Syrian border. The raid's target

was an insurgent cell believed to be responsible for smuggling the

vast majority of foreign fighters into Iraq.

The most significant discovery was a collection of biographical

sketches that listed hometowns and other details for more than 700

fighters brought into Iraq since August 2006.

The records also underscore how the insurgency in Iraq remains both

overwhelmingly Iraqi and Sunni. American officials now estimate that

the flow of foreign fighters was 80 to 110 per month during the first

half of this year and about 60 per month during the summer. The

numbers fell sharply in October to no more than 40, partly as a result

of the Sinjar raid, the American officials say.

Saudis accounted for the largest number of fighters listed on the

records by far -- 305, or 41 percent -- American intelligence officers

found as they combed through documents and computers in the weeks

after the raid. The data show that despite increased efforts by Saudi

Arabia to clamp down on would-be terrorists since Sept. 11, 2001, when

15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi, some Saudi fighters are still

getting through.

Libyans accounted for 137 foreign fighters, or 18 percent of the

total, the senior American military officials said. They discussed the

raid with the stipulation that they not be named because of the

delicate nature of the issue.

United States officials have previously offered only rough estimates

of the breakdown of foreign fighters inside Iraq. But the trove found

in Sinjar is so vast and detailed that American officials believe that

the patterns and percentages revealed by it offer for the first time a

far more precise account of the personal circumstances of foreign

fighters throughout the country.

In contrast to the comparatively small number of foreigners, more than

25,000 inmates are in American detention centers in Iraq. Of those,

only about 290, or some 1.2 percent, are foreigners, military

officials say.

They contend that all of the detainees either are suspected of

insurgent activity or are an "imperative threat" to security. Some

American officials also believe that Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, a

homegrown insurgent group that claims a loose allegiance to Osama bin

Laden, may by itself have as many as 10,000 members in Iraq.

About four out of every five detainees in American detention centers

are Sunni Arab, even though Sunni Arabs make up just one-fifth of

Iraq's population. All of the foreign fighters listed on the materials

found near Sinjar, excluding two from France, also came from countries

that are predominantly Sunni.

Over the years, the Syrian border has been the principal entry point

into Iraq for foreign insurgents, officials say. Many had come through

Anbar Province, in west-central Iraq. But with the Sunni tribal revolt

against extremist militants that began last year in Anbar, Al Qaeda in

Mesopotamia and other jihadists concentrated their smuggling efforts

on the area north of the Euphrates River along the Syrian border, the

officials said.

The officials added that, based on the captured documents and other

intelligence, they believe that the Sinjar cell that was raided in

September was responsible for the smuggling of foreign fighters along

a stretch of the border from Qaim, in Anbar, almost to the border with

Turkey, a length of nearly 200 miles. They said that was why they were

confident that the cell was responsible for such a large portion of

the incoming foreign fighters.

American military and diplomatic officials who discussed the flow of

fighters from Saudi Arabia were careful to draw a distinction between

the Saudi government and the charities and individuals who they said

encouraged young Saudi men to fight in Iraq. After United States

officials put pressure on Saudi leaders in the summer, the Saudi

government took some steps that have begun to curb the flow of

fighters, the officials said.

Yet the senior American military officials said they also believed

that Saudi citizens provided the majority of financing for Al Qaeda in

Mesopotamia. "They don't want to see the Shias come to dominate in

Iraq," one American official said.

The Sinjar materials showed that 291 fighters, or about 39 percent,

came from North African nations during the period beginning in August

2006. That is far higher than previous military estimates of 10 to 13

percent from North Africa. The largest foreign fighter hometown was

Darnah, Libya, which supplied 50 fighters.

For years American officials included Libya on the list of state

sponsors of terrorism. But last year the United States removed it from

that list and re-established full diplomatic relations, citing what

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice described as Libya's "continued

commitment to its renunciation of terrorism and the excellent

cooperation" it has provided in the antiterrorism fight.

Also striking among the Sinjar materials were the smaller numbers from

other countries that had been thought to be major suppliers of foreign

fighters. As recently as the summer, American officials estimated that

20 percent came from Syria and Lebanon. But there were no Lebanese

listed among the Sinjar trove, and only 56 Syrians, or 8 percent of

the total.

American officials have accused Iran, the largest Shiite nation in the

Middle East, of sending powerful bombs to Iraq and of supporting and

financing Shiite militias that attack American troops. They also

contend that top Iranian leaders support efforts to arm Shiite

fighters.

But whatever aid Iran provides to militias inside Iraq does not seem

to extend to supplying actual combatants: Only 11 Iranians are in

American detention, United States officials say.

After the raid on the Sinjar cell, the number of suicide bombings in

Iraq fell to 16 in October -- half the number seen during the summer

months and down sharply from a peak of 59 in March. American military

officials believe that perhaps 90 percent of such bombings are carried

out by foreign fighters. They also believe that about half of the

foreign fighters who come to Iraq become suicide bombers.

"We cut the head off, but the tail is still left," warned one of the

senior American military officials, discussing the aftermath of the

Sinjar raid. "Regeneration is completely within the realm of

possibility."

The documents indicate that each foreigner brought about $1,000 with

him, used mostly to finance operations of the smuggling cell. Saudis

brought more money per person than fighters from other nations, the

American officials said.

Among the Saudi fighters described in the materials, 45 had come from

Riyadh, 38 from Mecca, 20 from Buraidah and the surrounding area, 15

from Jawf and Sakakah, 13 from Jidda, and 12 from Medina.

American officials publicly expressed anger over the summer at Saudi

policies that were destabilizing Iraq. Sunni tribal sheiks in Iraq who

risked their lives to fight extremist militants also faulted Saudi

clerics.

"The bad imams tell the young people to go to Iraq and fight the

American Army, because if you kill them or they kill you, you will go

to paradise," Sheik Adnan Khames Jamiel, a leader of the Albu Alwan

tribe in Ramadi, said in an interview.

One senior American diplomat said the Saudi government had "taken

important steps to interdict individuals, particularly military-aged

males with one-way tickets." He said those efforts had helped cause an

"appreciable decrease in the flow of foreign terrorists and suicide

bombers." But he added that still more work remained "to cut off

malign financing from private sources within the kingdom."

American officials cite a government program on Saudi television in

which a would-be suicide bomber who survived his attack urges others

not to travel to Iraq. The officials were also encouraged in October

when the grand mufti of Saudi Arabia, Sheik Abdulaziz al-Asheik,

condemned "mischievous parties" who send young Saudis abroad to carry

out "heinous acts which have no association with Islam whatsoever."

Armed with information from the raid, American officials say they have

used military, law enforcement and diplomatic channels to put pressure

on the countries named as homes to large numbers of fighters. They

have also shared information with these countries on 300 more men who

the records showed were being recruited to fight in Iraq.

Surrounded by desolate prairie and desert, Sinjar has long been a way

station for foreign fighters. The insurgent cell raided by American

troops was believed to have been smuggling up to 90 percent of all

foreign fighters into Iraq, military officials say.

The raid happened in the predawn hours of Sept. 11, when American

forces acting on a tip surrounded some tents six miles from the Syrian

border. A fierce firefight killed six men outside, and two more were

killed when one of them detonated a suicide vest inside a tent,

military officials said. All were leaders of the insurgent smuggling

cell, including one prominent Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia commander known

as Muthanna, they said.

In addition to $18,000 in cash and assorted weapons, troops found five

terabytes of data that included detailed questionnaires filled out by

incoming fighters. Background information on more than 900 fighters

was found, or about 750 after eliminating duplicates and

questionnaires that were mostly incomplete.

According to the rosters found in the raid, the third-largest source

of foreign fighters was Yemen, with 68. There were 64 from Algeria, 50

from Morocco, 38 from Tunisia, 14 from Jordan, 6 from Turkey and 2

from Egypt.

Most of the fighters smuggled by the cell were believed to have flown

into Damascus Airport, and the rest came into Syria overland through

Jordan, the officials said.

In some cases, one senior American military official said, Syrian

authorities captured fighters and released them after determining they

were not a threat to the Syrian government. Syria has made some recent

efforts to turn back or detain suspected foreign fighters bound for

Iraq, he said, adding, "The key word is 'some.'"