BAGHDAD, 8 January 2005 — Iraq’s interim defense minister said yesterday he had proof that Syria and Iran were backing the insurgency raging in Iraq with money and arms.
In the latest accusation against Iraq’s neighbors, Hazim Al-Shaalan showed journalists a video of a man he said was the captured leader of an insurgent group called Mohammed’s Army, confessing to receiving aide from Iran and Syria, and threatened revenge.
“We, especially in Mohammed’s Army, received a lot of help from Iran, which also supports most of the resistance groups in Iraq,” said the man, who identified himself as Col. Moayed Yassin Aziz Al-Nasiri, from Saddam Hussein’s disbanded army.
The video’s authenticity could not be verified. Iran and Syria deny links with Iraq’s insurgents. Shaalan and other members of the American-backed government have frequently accused them of supporting insurgents fighting US forces in Iraq.
