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July 2, 2007

Hezbollah Special Operations Officer Captured In Iraq

Topics: Iraq

Image: A 2006 poster in Iraq shows Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, left, and Lebanese Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

U.S. officials say a captured Iranian-controlled senior Hezbolah Officer played a critical role in the January kidnapping and murder of five U.S. soldiers in the Karbala raid. The top special operations officer from Lebanon's Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah was captured in Iraq, in the southern Iraqi city of Basra - where he was helping train and lead Shiite militias fighting coalition troops.

The Hezbollah officer, Ali Mussa Daqduq, is an explosives expert, and pretended to be deaf and mute when captured, until his identity became known weeks later:

... Once uncovered, however, they said he began to talk, and they now believe he played a crucial role in the January 20 attack in Karbala.

Intelligence officials say Daqduq is one of Hezbollah's top special operations commanders, an expert in the use of roadside bombs. The Americans say he, along with the Iraqi militia commanders he worked with, has admitted working with Iran's elite Quds Force special operations unit.

U.S. commanders have said for months that Iraqi militants have been receiving weapons and training from members of the Quds Force, an element of Iran's Revolutionary Guards. Washington has demanded the Iranian government stop the flow of arms and militants across its border -- which, along with the diplomatic standoff over Iran's nuclear fuel program, has raised fears of a wider war in the region.

Iran, which has close ties to the Shiite parties that control Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government, has repeatedly denied the allegations. But U.S. intelligence officials said the Quds Force has been backing the creation of Shiite "special groups" modeled on Hezbollah, which holds sway over much of southern Lebanon.

So, Mr. President, are we at war with Iran - yet?

Definitely,do not miss this fascinating video of Michael Ware's CNN report.

Posted by Abdul at July 2, 2007 1:06 AM

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