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http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/ar...TICLE_ID=32090




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WAR ON TERROR
Probe links Syria, al-Qaida
Italian authorities say country shuttled funds, recruits to Iraq

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Posted: April 16, 2003
5:00 p.m. Eastern



© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com

Italian authorities have concluded that Syria served as a hub for Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist organization, shuttling funds and recruits from Italy to training camps in northeastern Iraq, reports the Los Angeles Times.

Two weeks ago, Italian police arrested seven al-Qaida operatives, according to the paper. The men were charged with sending about 40 extremists through Syria to terrorist bases operated jointly by al-Qaida and Ansar al Islam, the Islamic terror group routed by a joint Kurdish-U.S. operation during the early phase of the war.

According to court documents obtained by the Times, the al-Qaida arrests are part of an investigation that began last year. Wiretaps of the operatives reveal overseers in Syria coordinating the movement of recruits and money between Europe and Iraq.

Kurdish spiritual leader Mullah Fuad, with the help of others based near Damascus, functioned as the respected gatekeeper in Syria, giving orders to the suspects in Italy.

In one call placed on March 23 from Syria, a man identified as Abdullah instructs an Egyptian in Milan to do all he could to procure fraudulent documents for an accused Somali terrorist.

"When he contacts you, be at his complete disposal," said Abdullah, according to the transcript. "Anything he asks, give it to him. Anything he needs, get it for him."

"I'm at your orders, God willing," replied the Egyptian, identified as Rady Ayashi. He was arrested a week later as he attempted to flee to Syria.

The investigation provides backing for the recent accusations by Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that Syria was "shipping killers into Iraq to try to kill Americans" by the "bus-loads."

It adds fuel to the escalating diplomatic row between Washington and Damascus that suggests Syria is the next target in the war on terror.

On Sunday, President George W. Bush accused Syria of possessing weapons of mass destruction, amid reports it allowed Saddam Hussein to transfer his biological and chemical weapons across its border.

The U.S. also alleges Syria supplied Iraq with illegal arms that were used against coalition forces. As WorldNetDaily reported, Syria was fingered as the middle man that provided GPS-jamming equipment made by a Russian firm in cooperation with the Russian military.

Syria's deputy ambassador to the U.S., Imad Moustaphi, called the claims by the U.S. "a campaign of disinformation" to distract attention from civil disorder in Iraq.

"Allegations of Syria providing refuge to some symbols of the Iraqi regime are absolutely groundless," echoed Bussaina Shaaban, director of the Syrian ministry's information department today.

"Syria never had good relations with the Iraqi regime, and in fact there were many operations done against our citizens by the Iraqi regime in the past, and so these kinds of allegations are absolutely groundless," she added, in a reference to the series of attacks in Syria in the 1980s blamed on Baghdad.

Despite the denial, U.S. officials are threatening to impose sanctions if Syria doesn't "cooperate" with the coalition's operation in Iraq. Beyond sanctions, "other" measures are also on the table.

"We will examine possible measures of a diplomatic, economic or other nature as we move forward," Secretary of State Colin Powell said after meeting the Kuwaiti foreign minister.

Italian investigators told the Times they have no evidence the Syrian government was aware of the terror network or protected it.

"We are not interested in the politics of it," one law-enforcement official told the paper. "The investigation shows that there were several leaders in Syria. That's the bottom line."