US and Israeli intelligence experts traced the location where the rare tape was filmed to a former Red Crescent army base on Jabal Tanaf, 5 kilometers from the border of IraqÂ’s Anbar Province. They believe that after the US 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Syrian military handed the base over to ZarqawiÂ’s men as a hideout and haven. Of late, he has established a rear headquarters at the rugged mountain site.
DEBKAfileÂ’s Middle East sources note that proof that the al Qaeda in IraqÂ’s chief is currently operating out of Syria coincides with the easing of US, French and UN pressure on Syrian president Bashar Assad to desist from meddling in Lebanon and sponsoring terror, to cooperate with the UN Hariri investigation and to seal his border to insurgent and al Qaeda incursions of Iraq. The Syrian-Iraqi border is patently still in free use for the smuggling of manpower, arms, explosives and funds.
|