Purported Saudi militant uses Internet to invite Muslims to fight for Islam in Iraq
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - A letter purportedly describing a young Saudi man's journey to fight alongside Iraqis and his call for fellow Arabs to join him portrays how growing frustration among the region's youth has popularized the idea of jihad, or holy war.
The letter, first posted on a Yahoo Groups Web site Friday, was titled: "How to get to Iraq for jihad: A message from a mujahid (holy warrior) in Iraq to whoever asks about jihad in Iraq." It appears to have been written before the Iraq war started.
Islamic Web sites have been carrying clerics' edicts for jihad against the allied forces, and calls for holy war have become popular in chat rooms among Muslim youths who perceive the war on Iraq as a U.S. crusade on Islam.
"Iraq today faces a savage war by the Anglo-American crusaders, which opens wide the door for jihad ...," the letter on the Yahoo site read.
The writer did not identify himself beyond saying that he comes from the land of the Haramen, a reference to two Islamic sites in Saudi Arabia.
The letter was posted by a group that calls itself Abu Banan Global Islamic Media Group. No information was available about the group.
The writer said he was appalled and frustrated by the stance of Arab leaders on the war and what he said was an open invitation from them to the "crusaders" to enter the Arab world. He said he was encouraged by his mother to join the fight in Iraq.
The letter details a journey to Iraq through Jordan. The writer said he was warmly received at the Iraqi Embassy in Amman. There have been reports of Iraqis returning from Jordan and Syria to fight alongside their countrymen, and some reports of other Arabs also going to Iraq.
At a Syrian border crossing on Friday, Suheil Sabbah, a Lebanese doctor, learned that his 19-year-old son, Wael, had crossed into Iraq. Wael had left a note at home on Monday saying that he was going to Iraq to be a "human shield" with five of his friends.
The Saudi letter writer said he made his way to a training camp where he met Palestinians, Egyptians, Yemenis, Sudanese and Gulf Arabs.
The first thing their sergeant told them, the militant writes, was that "you are here not to defend Saddam or the Iraqi regime, but to defend an Islamic country and Muslim brothers."
Iraqi dissidents and Arab media have claimed that Saddam Hussein opened a training camp for Arab volunteers willing to carry out suicide bombings against U.S. forces in Iraq. Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan said Saturday that thousands of Arab volunteers have been pouring into Iraq since the start of the war and that Iraq will provide them with what they need to fight.
The letter writer said the popularity of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden was "beyond description" in the camp.
At the end of his letter, the Saudi militant wrote, "I tell those who want to die for God's sake to go ahead."
"This war is going to be decisive between apostasy and Islam, hypocrisy and believing."
29 March 2003, Associated Press Newswires
