| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq-Jordan |
| Talabani sez Zarqawi funded by Wahhabis, foreign governments |
| 2005-05-10 |
| Iraq's two-year insurgency led by Al Qaeda's Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is being funded by supporters of a strict Saudi-based Muslim sect and some foreign countries, the Iraqi president said, without naming the states involved. President Jalal Talabani told Reuters in an interview he believed Zarqawi had nevertheless been weakened and isolated and there was no fear of civil war in Iraq, which has suffered a spate of bombings designed to undermine its new government. The veteran Kurdish leader, sworn in a month ago as the first non-Arab president of an Arab nation, said late on Sunday Zarqawi was backed by extremists across the region. "They are getting aid from Al Qaeda and from some financiers among some extremist Muslim organisations from Wahabi extremists abroad and from countries that I will not name," he said. Talabani, who left Amman en route to an Arab-South American summit in Brazil, said Jordanian-born Zarqawi's capture could be close and the leadership of the group, which has claimed some of the deadliest bombings in Iraq, had been decimated. "I think that Zarqawi appears isolated and hated by Iraqis and I would not rule out his capture any second, but I cannot guess where or when," he said. Hundreds of members of Zarqawi's group have either been captured or killed by US and Iraqi troops, he said, adding that recent Baghdad car bombings were a sign of desperation by the predominantly Sunni Muslim insurgency. "These last acts in which car bombings have escalated are evidence of weakness. The overall number of terror attacks has fallen sharply," Talabani said, in contrast to US military estimates that the guerrillas recently gained ground. "They have been dealt a severe blow and weakened a lot and you can say they have been isolated by people who are angry with their crimes," Talabani said. He ruled out civil war driven by rising communal tensions between Shias and Sunnis and a wave of sectarian killings. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #3 and haven't some of the Euro dhimmis been sending money to the 'freedom fighters' and what about the Tides Foundation |
| Posted by: mhw 2005-05-10 09:13 |
| #2 and Syria, Iran. Devil's triangle. |
| Posted by: twobyfour 2005-05-10 05:22 |
| #1 Countries I shall not name |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet 0’ Doom 2005-05-10 05:08 |