Arab fighters number in Iraq fall to 300

The number of Arab and foreign fighters in Iraq dropped to 300 from 5,000 in the last eight months. Algerians are at the top of the list with 20 percent ahead of Egyptians and Saudi, AFP reported on Friday citing US and western intelligence reports.

• Syrian represent 18 percent of the fighters while 17 percent are Yemenis, 15 percent are Sudanese, 13 percent are Egyptians while 12 percent are Saudi, said the same source.
• According to western intelligence executives, US and European intelligence station chiefs observed a fall in the number of fighters especially those coming from the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa including Morocco, Algeria and Libya.
• The US reports are similar to the rest of western countries’ ones. The number of foreign fighters in Iraq would have fallen to 300 from about 5,000 in the last eight months.
• Despite this drop, Algerians are ranked first in the number of Arab and foreign fighters in Iraq. They constitute 20 percent of 300 fighters in the Iraqi resistance against US occupation.
• Those figures are linked to a file already obtained by US intelligence in Iraq. It includes a large number of recruitment formulas of Algerians in suicide attacks there.