Sunday, October 02, 2005
Iraqi RhetIraq: Interior Minister
Who: Bayan Jabor (Interior Minister of Iraq)
Source: Reuters
Quotes: From article titled, "Iraq says Zarqawi sending some militants back home"
Interior Minister Bayan Jabor said documents found with Abu Azzam, said to be a lieutenant of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the most wanted man in Iraq, signaled a plan to send foreign Arab Sunni militants back home to widen the battlefield beyond Iraq.
"We got hold of a very important letter from Abu Azzam to Zarqawi asking him to begin to move a number of Arab fighters to the countries they came from to transfer their experience in car bombings in Iraq," Jabor told Reuters in an interview in Amman.
"So you will see insurgencies in other countries," said Jabor, a member of the Shi'ite Islamist SCIRI party, a key component of the Shi'ite- and Kurdish-led coalition government.
"They are leaving Iraq to transfer their training skills in car bombings to their original countries," he said.
"Zarqawi is no longer important in my view. His worth or importance has ended with the confusion that is happening where there are now Iraqis and others (in the insurgency)," he said.
Jabor said foreign Arab militants now numbered less than 1,000 compared to between 2,500 and 3,000 six months ago. They were much weaker but readier to inflict more civilian casualties: "There are indications of a sharp weakening of the capabilities of the insurgents," Jabor said.
Citing intelligence reports, Jabor said effectiveness of insurgent operations dropped to a of low 25 percent from 80 percent in terms of killing designated targets, primarily with a sharp drop in attacks on Iraqi security forces although attacks against U.S. forces had not fallen.
Source: Reuters
Quotes: From article titled, "Iraq says Zarqawi sending some militants back home"
Interior Minister Bayan Jabor said documents found with Abu Azzam, said to be a lieutenant of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the most wanted man in Iraq, signaled a plan to send foreign Arab Sunni militants back home to widen the battlefield beyond Iraq.
"We got hold of a very important letter from Abu Azzam to Zarqawi asking him to begin to move a number of Arab fighters to the countries they came from to transfer their experience in car bombings in Iraq," Jabor told Reuters in an interview in Amman.
"So you will see insurgencies in other countries," said Jabor, a member of the Shi'ite Islamist SCIRI party, a key component of the Shi'ite- and Kurdish-led coalition government.
"They are leaving Iraq to transfer their training skills in car bombings to their original countries," he said.
"Zarqawi is no longer important in my view. His worth or importance has ended with the confusion that is happening where there are now Iraqis and others (in the insurgency)," he said.
Jabor said foreign Arab militants now numbered less than 1,000 compared to between 2,500 and 3,000 six months ago. They were much weaker but readier to inflict more civilian casualties: "There are indications of a sharp weakening of the capabilities of the insurgents," Jabor said.
Citing intelligence reports, Jabor said effectiveness of insurgent operations dropped to a of low 25 percent from 80 percent in terms of killing designated targets, primarily with a sharp drop in attacks on Iraqi security forces although attacks against U.S. forces had not fallen.
