Most Terrorists in Iraq Said Saudi

Most Terrorists in Iraq Said Saudi

NewsMax.com Wires
Monday, April 4, 2005

Most foreign terrorists fighting in Iraq are coming from Saudi Arabia, says the latest intelligence on the bloody phenomenon that continues to delay the full blossoming of democracy in that former dictatorship.

Story Continues Below

"For months, a behind-the-scenes, seldom-mentioned debate has raged in the West, over the origins of the ‘foreign fighters' attacking the U.S., coalition, and local anti-jihadist forces in Iraq," says Stephen Schwartz, author of the report "The Face of Iraqi Terrorism" just published in the Weekly Standard.

"In mainstream media and government statements, the jihadist killers were never identified, beyond noting that they were foreign. Now we have real evidence, and the verdict … points south of the Iraqi border."

Schwartz references a published paper titled "Arab volunteers killed in Iraq: an Analysis," underwritten by The Global Research in International Affairs Center in Israel, described by the author as "a highly reputable and reliable think-tank."

Researched and written by Dr. Reuven Paz, the paper analyzes the origins of 154 Arab jihadists killed in Iraq in the last six months, whose names have been posted on Islamist websites.

Says Swartz: "The sample does not account for all jihadists in Iraq, but provides a useful and eye-opening profile of them."

Here's what it reports:

Saudi Arabia accounted for 94 jihadists, or 61 percent of the sample. Of the 94 Saudis, 61 originated in the region of Najd, known as the heart-land of the militant Wahhabis sect;

Syria accounted for 16 (10 per-cent);

Iraq itself accounted for only 13 (8 per-cent);

Kuwait accounted for 11 (7 percent);

The remainder included small numbers from Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Algeria, Morocco (of which one was a resident in Spain), Yemen, Tunisia, the Palestinian territories (only 1), Dubai, and Sudan. The Sudanese was living in Saudi Arabia before he went to die in Iraq.

According to Schwartz, the names of most of the dead appeared on the websites after the battle of Falluja, and they were all supporters of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and al Qaeda.

The total of 154 included 33 suicide terrorists, of whom 23 were Saudis (with 10 from Najd).

Given that Najdis make up 43.5 percent of Saudi suicide bombers in Iraq, and 65 percent of all Saudi jihadists on the list, Paz concluded from his study that the "Wahhabi doctrines of Najd - the heart of Wahhabism - remain highly effective."

Iraqis have come to notice and resent the presence of the foreign intruders. In late February, 2,000 people assembled in Hilla, near Baghdad, to protest a car bombing that killed at least 25. The demonstrators chanted, "No to terrorism! No to Baathism and Wahhabism!"

Editor's note:

Get your Web site listed on NewsMax.com – reach millions for pennies! Click Here Now!

Shop NewsMax.com's store for the best deals on books, tapes, videos and more! Click Here Now!

Hey: Browse NewsMax's Online Classifieds for Great Offers – Click Here Now!

Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
Al-Qaeda