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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: unclewest who wrote (93843)	4/16/2003 6:43:01 AM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

The Syrians and Al Qaeda? Everybody is into the act! LA Times. Probe Links Syria, Terror Network: Italian investigation finds the country was a hub for shuttling money and recruits to Iraq. By Sebastian Rotella Times Staff Writer April 16, 2003 MILAN, Italy -- Syria has functioned as a hub for an Al Qaeda network that moved Islamic extremists and funds from Italy to northeastern Iraq, where the recruits fought alongside the recently defeated Ansar al Islam terrorist group, according to an Italian investigation. The investigation, which began last year, could intensify the growing debate about Syria's alleged ties to terrorism. Two weeks ago, Italian police arrested seven alleged Al Qaeda operatives. They were charged with sending about 40 extremists through Syria to terrorist bases operated jointly by Al Qaeda and Ansar al Islam, whose stronghold in northeast Iraq was recently overrun by Kurdish and U.S. troops. Transcripts of wiretapped conversations among the suspected operatives and others paint a detailed picture of overseers in Syria coordinating the movement of recruits and money between Europe and Iraq, according to court documents obtained by The Times. An Italian judicial order dated March 31 said the conversations show that a Kurdish spiritual leader, identified as Mullah Fuad, was the respected "gatekeeper in Syria for volunteers intent on reaching Iraq. "REST AT:http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/diplomacy/la-war-syria16apr16,1,5982532.story?coll=la-home-headlines

To: unclewest who wrote (93843)	4/17/2003 3:27:52 AM
From: Dayuhan	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

Freedom of religion is one of the greatest gifts. This issue has nothing at all to do with freedom of religion. It's about the imperative need to make it clear that the US occupation is not a crusade, and the obvious desirability of maintaining the smallest possible number of irritants to relations between the interim government and the Iraqis. Once order is restored and an Iraqi government is in charge, I don't care if Franklin preaches on every streetcorner, or (more likely) flies over Najaf in a private jet and bombards the place with bibles. Until that happens, he should confine himself to sending material and money. There will be no shortage of professionals there to handle distribution. In many ways it's a test that will reveal the real purpose of Graham's organization. If they want to help people, they will move in slowly, after peace has reduced the inherent irritant of there presence. If they're there to preach, he'll want to bring his own people in and establish a visible presence immediately. We'll see. It should perhaps be noted that many people, not all of them Muslims, believe that aggressive evangelism is not compatible with freedom of religion. Freedom of religion, like all freedoms, is constrained to the extent that it intrudes on the rights of others.