Security Official Says Iraq Detaining Hundreds Of Saudi Militants

A former detainee wears an identification band after his release (file photo) (epa) July 15, 2007 -- A senior Iraqi security official has said some 160 Saudi militants have been tried in Iraq for taking part in its insurgency, while hundreds of others are in detention.

Iraqi national security adviser Muwaffaq al-Rubay'i also told the state-owned Saudi newspaper "Okaz" that foreign militants are infiltrating Iraq "from a neighboring country," an apparent reference to Syria.

The "Los Angeles Times" reported today that 45 percent of all foreign militants targeting U.S. troops and Iraqi security forces are believed to come from Saudi Arabia, another 15 percent from Syria and Lebanon, and 10 percent from North Africa.

The Los Angeles daily quotes an anonymous "senior U.S. military officer" as saying that nearly half of the 135 foreign nationals in U.S. custody in Iraq are Saudi citizens.

(AFP, latimes.com)