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Friday, Jan. 7, 2005

The paper says terrorists and weapons continue to flow into the country as it gears up for elections, said Colonel Jouke Spolestra, in charge of security sector reform in the southern Iraqi provinces.

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Col. Spolestra, of the Royal Netherlands Navy, said that despite regular military patrols and raids on suspected insurgent strongholds, British-led forces had failed to halt the trafficking in personnel and arms. "People are coming in from Saudi Arabia, that is one cause of concern for us. There is a flow of weapons, illegal immigrants and of course even al-Qaida. We do have patrols, but it is an open border," he told the Gulf Daily News.

The Dutch officer, serving alongside British forces as part of the multinational division, said ancient desert trails and newer tunnels enabled fighters to enter Iraq undetected.

He also conceded there was little accurate intelligence on the numbers of militants making the trip.

He insisted newly trained Iraqi border police and European military contingents were capturing fighters - but admitted only a tiny fraction were actually caught. "Quite often there are arrests being made," he said.

"We pick up all kinds of people, maybe terrorists, foreign fighters, people coming from Yemen or Saudi Arabia. Also weapons smugglers."

The paper noted that the whole spectrum of smugglers of terrorists are being caught, but it is probably only a small percentage.

Saudi Arabia shares a 300km border with Southern Iraq, mainly inhospitable desert conditions.

This length and harsh environment means military chiefs have given up trying to police the actual border-line, concentrating instead on main transit routes.

Editor's note: