<<If al Qaeda is in Iraq they are in the north in the part controlled by the Kurds, under the US/UK air umbrella, and who, in fact, are the US friends. Indeed, they are the people who the US wants to replace Saddam --- only they have said they will not.>>
NewsMax.com Wires
Thursday, Nov. 8, 2001
NEW YORK -- Two defectors from Iraqi intelligence said they worked for several years at a secret Iraqi government camp that trained Islamic terrorists, The New York Times reported Thursday.
They said the government camp, south of Baghdad, had trained militants in rotations of five or six months since 1995. The camp is overseen by the highest levels of Iraqi intelligence, and militants were trained in espionage, assassination techniques and sabotage, the report said.
One of the defectors was a lieutenant general and served as a senior officer in the Iraqi intelligence service, the Mukhabarat.
"There is a lot we do not know," the former general, who spoke on condition that his name not be printed, admitted.
"We were forbidden to speak about our activities among each other, even off-duty. But over the years you see and hear things. These Islamic radicals were a scruffy lot. They needed a lot of training, especially physical training," he said.
"But from speaking with them it was clear they came from a variety of countries, including Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Algeria, Egypt and Morocco. We were training these people to attack installations important to the United States. The Gulf War never ended for (President) Saddam Hussein. He is at war with the United States. We were repeatedly told this."
The general told The Times he did not know if the Islamic militants being trained at the camp, known as Salman Pak, were linked to Osama bin Laden.
Both defectors said the training in the camp was aimed at carrying out attacks against neighboring countries and possibly Europe and the United States.
Copyright 2001 by United Press International. All rights reserved.
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