Iran aiding Iraqi militias, official says

[unhappycamper]

Iran aiding Iraqi militias, official says
Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Militants from the Lebanese group Hezbollah have been training Iraqi militia fighters at a camp near Tehran, The New York Times reported Monday, citing American interrogation reports that the United States has supplied to the Iraqi government.

An American official said the account of Hezbollah’s role was provided by four Shiite militia members who were captured in Iraq late last year and questioned separately, the Times reported.

The Times noted that the U.S. has long charged that the Iranians were training Iraqi militia fighters in Iran, which Iran has consistently denied, and there have been previous reports about Hezbollah operatives in Iraq, but the Americans say the reports of Hezbollah’s role at the Iranian camp offer important details about Iranian assistance to the militias, including efforts Iran appears to be making to train the fighters in unobtrusive ways.

Material from the interrogations was given to the Iraqi government, along with other data about captured Iranian arms, before it sent a delegation to Tehran last week to discuss allegations of Iranian aid to militia groups, the paper reported.

It is not known if the delegation confronted its Iranian hosts with the information.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=54573