Iraq moves to block -US-Saudi backed mercenaries from entering Syria

Iraq says blocking al-Qaeda moves to Syria
27 July, 2012 – Al Akhbar

The Iraqi Interior Ministry denied reports on Friday that al-Qaeda militants were infiltrating Syria from the Iraqi border, days after Islamist militants stormed several border crossings.

The Iraqi Media Network reported the ministry’s undersecretary Ahmad al-Khafaji as saying “border guards in coordination with the Iraqi army closed all the ports that the organization al-Qaeda could have used to pass into Syria.”

The international community has warned of an influx of al-Qaeda militants from Iraq into Syria.

Baghdad also reiterated its decision to welcome Syrian refugees fleeing the violence in many Syrian cities, and has allocated 50 billion dinars ($40 million) for the erection of tents on the border with Iraq to house them.

On Tuesday, German intelligence agency BND claimed that al-Qaeda was responsible for at least 90 terror attacks in Syria. The revelations confirm widespread Western fears of al-Qaeda’s growing involvement in the crisis.

Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad has frequently contended that his forces are fighting primarily an Islamist insurgency, although it is unclear how prominent Islamist insurgents are in the rebellion. …more