In The Days

• Source: Financial Times
• News Date: 1/30/07
• Author: Daniel Dombey

Dozens of al-Qaeda suicide bombers from countries such as Saudi Arabia and Sudan are crossing into Iraq from Syria every month, a senior US official said on Tuesday.

“The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.”
—Isaiah 17:1

Speaking to the Financial Times in London, the official said that, while sectarian conflict now represented the biggest threat to the country, the violence was being stoked up from abroad.

“This is the most difficult challenge,” he said. “How do you bring down sectarian violence in the face of this al-Qaeda campaign to prompt sectarian violence?”

But he added that the US’s new strategy for Iraq also depended on much greater co-operation from the Iraqi government.

The US says outside actors – chiefly Syria and Iran – are still one of the biggest factors determining the level of violence in Iraq. It also portrays its recent decision to pursue Iranian operatives in Iraq as an effort to “push back” against Tehran’s increased influence in the region.

The official alleged that the vast majority of suicide bombers came across the border from Syria, and that they received training for their task within Syria as well as inside Iraq itself.

“We do not believe that there was an inevitability to the Shia-Sunni conflict on this scale,” he said, arguing that the violence had been greatly increased by al-Qaeda acts such as the bombing of the Samarra mosque last February.

He said that 75-80 per cent of the estimated 75 suicide bombings a month were carried out by foreigners, and that Saudi Arabia and Sudan were the most common countries of origin. But he emphasised that the Saudi government was doing its utmost to take on al-Qaeda.

“We have been wholly unsuccessful in affecting Syrian behaviour with regard to the passage of these elements,” the official said, adding that the countries of the region wanted to isolate Syria further.

The US is also greatly concerned by Iran, which it believes has become bolder and more confident in its activities in the region in the past few months. Washington maintains that Iran’s activities within Iraq have reached an unacceptable level because of the use of Iranian-made explosive devices and the incursion of Iranian operatives into Iraqi territory. Tehran denies meddling in Iraq’s affairs.

“We are attempting to re-establish a position of strength,” the official said of the recent US decision to step up action against Iran, including the despatch of an aircraft carrier to the Gulf.

He added that the US plan for Iraq depended on improving security, convincing the Iraqi government to adopt a less sectarian agenda, and eliciting financial aid from states in the region that are suspicious of Baghdad.

This would involve the Iraqi government providing effective soldiers, halting sectarian meddling in military decisions and embracing a programme of reconciliation. “If these commitments are not met, then this plan cannot succeed,” the official said.