Signs Show Jihadists Looking Beyond Iraq
There are some indications foreign fighters will adopt a more regional focus, official says
By Katherine Shrader
Associated Press
April 29, 2006
WASHINGTON - U.S. intelligence officials say they are seeing early signs that jihadist fighters who came to Iraq to contest the U.S.-led coalition are looking beyond Iraq's borders to spread a radical, violent agenda.
American analysts are trying to understand a web of complex political, cultural and economic issues contributing to the instability in Iraq, said the senior officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity Friday because of the sensitive positions they occupy.
Feeding other groups
When asked about the extent to which Sunni Muslim jihadists in Iraq are feeding other groups in the region, one official said the primary link between the global jihadist movement and the Iraq insurgency was believed to be rhetorical.
The official said authorities cannot rule out that some of the foreign fighters — who came to fight for al-Qaida's leader there, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi — will adopt a more regional focus.
"We are seeing indications," said the official, who declined to elaborate and cautioned that the signs are on a small scale now.
U.S. intelligence is trying to understand how local Muslim groups become more radical and plot attacks with little or no contact with a central al-Qaida organization in Iraq or Afghanistan.
More violent since 2003
That appears to have been the case with this week's resort attacks in Dahab, Egypt, as well as the 2004 Madrid train bombings and last year's London transit attacks.
By a number of measures, the region has become more violent since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. A State Department report on terrorism Friday tallied a dramatic increase in terror attacks in Iraq last year, where about 3,500 of the world's more than 11,000 attacks took place.
A wider focus for al-Zarqawi, who is intent on overthrowing the government in his home country of Jordan, comes as no surprise.
But his organization has launched only limited attacks beyond Iraq, claiming responsibility for three outside Iraq's borders last year — most notably, the suicide attacks on three Jordanian hotels that killed 60.
The decision to use Iraqi bombers in that assault was no accident, said one of the senior officials.
By Katherine Shrader
Associated Press
April 29, 2006
WASHINGTON - U.S. intelligence officials say they are seeing early signs that jihadist fighters who came to Iraq to contest the U.S.-led coalition are looking beyond Iraq's borders to spread a radical, violent agenda.
American analysts are trying to understand a web of complex political, cultural and economic issues contributing to the instability in Iraq, said the senior officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity Friday because of the sensitive positions they occupy.
Feeding other groups
When asked about the extent to which Sunni Muslim jihadists in Iraq are feeding other groups in the region, one official said the primary link between the global jihadist movement and the Iraq insurgency was believed to be rhetorical.
The official said authorities cannot rule out that some of the foreign fighters — who came to fight for al-Qaida's leader there, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi — will adopt a more regional focus.
"We are seeing indications," said the official, who declined to elaborate and cautioned that the signs are on a small scale now.
U.S. intelligence is trying to understand how local Muslim groups become more radical and plot attacks with little or no contact with a central al-Qaida organization in Iraq or Afghanistan.
More violent since 2003
That appears to have been the case with this week's resort attacks in Dahab, Egypt, as well as the 2004 Madrid train bombings and last year's London transit attacks.
By a number of measures, the region has become more violent since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. A State Department report on terrorism Friday tallied a dramatic increase in terror attacks in Iraq last year, where about 3,500 of the world's more than 11,000 attacks took place.
A wider focus for al-Zarqawi, who is intent on overthrowing the government in his home country of Jordan, comes as no surprise.
But his organization has launched only limited attacks beyond Iraq, claiming responsibility for three outside Iraq's borders last year — most notably, the suicide attacks on three Jordanian hotels that killed 60.
The decision to use Iraqi bombers in that assault was no accident, said one of the senior officials.
posted by Hanan Elbadry at 11:20 AM
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