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Iraq says moroccan behind bombing { November 2 2005 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2005/11/02/iraq_says_moroccan_behind_bombing/http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2005/11/02/iraq_says_moroccan_behind_bombing/
Iraq says Moroccan behind bombing
Cites Syria as base in Sept. 29 attack
By Associated Press | November 2, 2005
BAGHDAD -- The Iraqi government yesterday blamed a Moroccan based in Syria for a triple car bomb attack that killed at least 60 people north of Baghdad in September, and the defense minister called on Arab governments to demand that Syria curb the movement of foreign fighters into Iraq.
In a statement, the Iraqi government identified the Moroccan as Muhsen Khayber, also known as Abdul-Majid al-Libi and Abdul-Rahim, who is also sought in his homeland for the terror bombings in Casablanca in May 2003.
The statement alleged that Khayber masterminded the Sept. 29 attack in which three vehicles exploded almost simultaneously in Balad, a mainly Shi'ite market town 50 miles north of Baghdad. At least 60 people were killed and about 70 were wounded. Iraqi officials offered an unspecified reward for information leading to Khayber's arrest.
Iraqi officials did not cite any evidence to link Khayber to the Balad attacks but have long maintained that foreign Islamic extremists play a major role in the suicide bombings that have killed hundreds of Iraqis in recent months.
Spanish authorities, however, believe Khayber was part of a network linked to Ansar al-Islam, an Islamic extremist group based in northern Iraq that recruits foreign fighters to battle the US-led coalition.
Also yesterday, the US military said an American soldier was killed by a roadside bomb in central Iraq the day before, raising to at least 93 the number of US service members who died in October, the fourth deadliest month for the troops in the Iraq war.
In a goodwill gesture for Eid al-Fitr, the holiday that concludes Ramadan, 500 prisoners were released from Abu Ghraib jail yesterday after being presented with a Koran and $25. The US military said they were freed after their cases went before an Iraqi-led review board and they were found not to have committed serious or violent crimes.
''These detainees have confessed to their crimes, renounced violence, and pledged to be good citizens of Iraq," the US military said in a statement.
More than 13,000 prisoners, including several hundred foreign fighters, are behind bars in Abu Ghraib and elsewhere in Iraq.
The Iraqi statement said Khayber moved last year to Syria, ''where he helped organize terrorist cells for foreign terrorists" who were sent to Iraq.
Arab media said Khayber was arrested in Syria in May 2004 and handed over to the Moroccans.
Moroccan government spokesman Nabil Benabdallah, reached by telephone, said he had not heard of Khayber.
However, a Moroccan analyst who attended high school with Khayber, Abdellah Rami, said he doubted Khayber was in custody because he still sends money to his two wives in the Moroccan city of Larache, where he was born in 1970. He also said Khayber was a vehement critic of Shi'ite Muslims, the main victims of the Balad attacks.
''Khayber used to support the killings of Shi'ites in Pakistan or the killing of Christians, even before Sept. 11," Rami said. ''He became very animated in the discussions, very fanatic."
Syria has denied supporting Iraqi insurgent groups and insists it is trying to control the porous border.
But in a meeting with reporters, Defense Minister Saadoun al-Dulaimi of Iraq warned the Damascus government against interfering in Iraq and called on Arab governments to pressure Damascus to crack down on Iraqi opposition groups operating from Syrian soil.
Dulaimi, a Sunni Arab, said more than 400 foreign fighters, mostly Egyptians, have been arrested in Iraq, but he gave no time frame.
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