RIYADH, 8 February 2005 — Iraq’s Minister of Interior Falah Hassan Naqib has welcomed the initiative of Crown Prince Abdullah for setting up an international anti-terrorism center and said it could help Iraq in stopping the flow of arms and funds from across the borders as well as preventing infiltration of insurgents into his country.
Naqib, who is here to attend the ongoing anti-terrorism conference, was speaking to the media on the current situation in Iraq. He said their own security forces would be in place in 18 months. “I would say within 18 months we will be able to have ... full control of our internal security,” Naqib said.
Referring to Prince Abdullah’s proposal, he said it was a step in the right direction, “since we are one of those countries that have suffered from terrorism. We look forward to working together for coordination in this regard and signing an agreement with neighboring countries to eliminate terrorism.”
On the presence of foreign insurgents in Iraq, Naqib said there are many Sudanese in his country. “The Sudanese were there even in Saddam’s time. That may be the reason for their infiltration even after the fall of the Saddam regime.”
“Maybe they (Sudanese) are 30 percent of the total numbers we have,” the minister said.
Many terrorists, he claimed, are infiltrating into Iraq through other countries. “They are being helped by Iraqis for monetary gains. They have the phone numbers of these agents who help to smuggle them across the borders.”
On the question of the whereabouts of Jordanian terrorist Zarqawi, Naqib said “he has been on the run all the time. But we are trying to hunt him down.”
He accused a neighboring country of interference in its internal affairs. There was also religious interference from across the border, he claimed. The other problem was funding and arms smuggling into Iraq, mainly from some Arab countries.
Asked to evaluate the outcome of the conference, he said one of the aspects discussed was organized terrorism. “Almost 90 percent of the criminals who are involved in terrorism are those with a criminal background.”
Terrorism, he pointed out, originated in Western countries in the 1960s. They successfully fought and defeated terrorism. “It is now our turn. Terrorists come from a particular educational and socio-economic background,” he said, adding that these issues will have to be discussed.
Referring to the deteriorating situation in Iraq, Naqib claimed the problem had been partly created by the media. “They are exaggerating the situation in Iraq. They convey the impression that America is killing Iraqis.”
Asked about his assessment of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and whether it was responsible for fanning the flames of terrorism, the interior minister said “the situation in Iraq is different and has nothing to do with the US policies.”
He was referring to the popular conception that the strong pro-Israeli bias in US policies was largely responsible for the surge in anti-American sentiments that have been blamed on terrorist acts in various countries.
Naqib declined to be drawn on when foreign troops might withdraw. “We have agreed that when we have been able to build up our forces and we are able to protect our country and our internal security, we will ask the foreign forces to leave Iraq,” he said.
