Islamic Militants Harassing Iraqi Kurds
Group in North Backed by Iran and Bolstered by Al Qaeda, Opposition Leaders Say
washingtonpost.com
By Daniel Williams
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, September 5, 2002; Page A26
LONDON -- An Islamic militant group reinforced with refugee followers of Osama bin Laden has been harassing Kurdish allies of the United States in northern Iraq with support from Iran, according to exiled Iraqi opposition officials and Kurdish leaders.
Over the past several months, the small guerrilla force known as Ansar al-Islam has carried out assassinations and assaulted Muslim villages it deems insufficiently pious.
In July, Ansar militants killed nine fighters of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, one of two Kurdish parties that administer northern Iraq under a protective umbrella of U.S. and British warplanes. PUK officials say Ansar assassins tried to kill Barham Salih, a top PUK official, last April during a visit to Kurdish territory by Ryan Crocker, a U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state.
U.S. officials have said Ansar has conducted small-scale experiments with biological poisons and crude chemical weapons, for possible use in attacks, according to the Associated Press.
The group's presence and Iran's support underline the many complications to be faced by the United States in its plans to overthrow Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Northern Iraq is a possible invasion route for U.S. forces.
Ansar numbers only about 500 fighters and holds a handful of villages in eastern Iraq near the town of Biyara, in an area adjacent to territory administered by Kurdish authorities. A few dozen guerrillas from Afghanistan joined following the U.S. bombing of that country, officials here said.
Some of these fighters are Afghans loyal to the deposed Taliban government, while others are Arabs from such countries as Saudi Arabia and Jordan who came to Afghanistan under the auspices of al Qaeda, according to the sources. After fleeing that country, they are said to have traveled through Iran and crossed into Iraq.
The al Qaeda members have settled in a cave complex in high mountains along the Iranian border, reports from northern Iraq indicate. The area has become known as a little Tora Bora, after the al Qaeda cave fortresses in Afghanistan that U.S.-led forces attacked last December.
Last month, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told reporters that members of bin Laden's al Qaeda network have "landed in a variety of countries, one of which is Iraq." He placed indirect responsibility on Hussein, saying, "It's hard to imagine that the government is not aware of what's taking place in the country."
The presence of al Qaeda fighters creates a peculiar dilemma for the Bush administration. Washington has pledged to pursue al Qaeda and Taliban terrorist suspects wherever they hide, and to punish countries that shelter them. Yet tussling with Iran over the issue is a tall order, and a military move against Iraq may be months away.
The Kurds do not appear ready for a major offensive either. "Ansar is a bother," said a Kurdish official, "But not one yet that requires a major response."
Iraq's neighbors have long worked with ethnic groups inside Iraq to destabilize the country. The Kurds have been a prime pawn in these games. Shiite Muslims, making up about 70 percent of Iraq's population, are also seen as a possible fifth column for influence by Iran, which is ruled by a Shiite fundamentalist government.
In recent months, PUK officials speculated that Baghdad was Ansar's main backer. But now the consensus in London, including among PUK representatives, is that Iran provides key logistical support and a safe area beyond the northern Iraqi border. Hussein's security agents have had contact with Ansar, but Iraq is not the main sponsor, exile and Kurdish officials said.
Weapons may come from several sources, including Iraq, but also other countries, a Kurdish official said. "It's not hard to buy weapons in our area," he said.
Both Iran and Iraq have denied fostering Ansar. Iranian officials have called the group a threat to their country's security. "We find this group suspect and its activities unacceptable," a spokesman for Iran's Foreign Ministry said last month. Baghdad, meanwhile, has pointed the finger at Tehran. In a radio broadcast, Uday Saddam Hussein, Hussein's eldest son, accused Iran of establishing an "extremist" group inside Iraq.
The possible motives of Iran, whose reported support includes housing for families of the fugitive fighters from Afghanistan, are hazy. For the moment, the United States and Iran are strange bedfellows in the buildup to a possible attack on Iraq.
Labeled by President Bush as part of an "axis of evil," Iran is headquarters of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, an organization representing Iraqi Shiites. The group was one of six organizations invited by the Bush administration last month to Washington to discuss plans to topple Hussein.
At the same time, Shiite Iran and Ansar, whose members follow the Sunni form of Islam, form an odd couple: Each considers the other to represent a heretical branch of the religion.
Kurdish officials and observers believe that hard-line members of Iran's intelligence services are using Ansar as a reminder to Kurds that Iran can create mischief in northern Iraq. "It's a way of saying don't forget us, in case the Kurds get too cozy with the Americans," one Kurdish exile official said.
Hussein's interest in Ansar is to keep the Kurds off balance and divert their military resources to a mountain sideshow, Kurdish officials and exile Iraqis say. The Ansar threat has forced PUK militia members to patrol roads in eastern Iraq.
Baghdad has warned Kurds not to host invading American troops, in case of U.S. military action. "Saddam may be giving [Ansar] some weapons and supplies to keep his hand in," said a Kurdish official who recently visited northern Iraq.
Ansar al-Islam, which means Supporters of Islam, is a successor to Jund al-Islam, or Soldiers of Islam, and combined with other Muslim-oriented Kurdish groups about six months ago. Jund al-Islam was responsible for the assassination of a top official of the Democratic Party of Kurdistan, which administers part of northern Iraq. Last September, Jund al-Islam reportedly killed and mutilated about 20 PUK fighters.
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