Chechen Terrorists Sent to Syria via Britain, Turkey

TEHRAN (FNA)- A group of 39 Chechen terrorists left London's Heathrow airport last week for Istanbul to sneak into Syria via the Turkish borders and join other terrorist and armed rebel groups in the war on Damascus.

The 39 terrorists were not the first group of Chechens sent to Syria. When armed rebellion against the Damascus government broke out, Chechen terrorists were among the first foreign troops sent to Syria through Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Britain. All throughout the last century, Chechens who had always been treated like an enemy, or at least a second class citizen, both under Tsarist and Communist Russia mostly left their land for various world countries, specially in the Middle-East. Chechnya which is a part of Russian territory has declared autonomy despite the opposition of the government in Moscow. The officials of the region who are aware of Moscow's advocacy of the Damascus government now want to attract the attention and support of the western states which provide aid to the terrorists in Syria to topple President Bashar al-Assad's government by sending terrorists to the Arab country. Earlier, the Syrian Army forces fighting terrorists in Aleppo also said that most of the armed rebels who carry out terrorist operations against the Syrian people in the Arab country are Israeli, Qatari, Saudi, Afghan, Chechen and Libyan nationals. "During conflicts with a terrorist group, we witnessed that a considerable number of the group's members are mercenaries hired from Afghanistan, Chechnya and some other neighboring and regional countries like Qatar and Saudi Arabia," a Syrian soldier told FNA in Aleppo in October. Also another member of the Syrian Army told FNA in October that the terrorists have different nationalities and are from Afghanistan, Libya and Chechnya. The Al-Qaeda terrorist organization, backed by Turkey, the US and its regional Arab allies, is responsible for training and dispatching these terrorists to Syria. In September, sources disclosed that the terrorist organization has set up a new camp in Northern Waziristan in Pakistan to train Salafi and Jihadi terrorists and dispatches them to Syria via Turkish borders, sources said. "A new Al-Qaeda has been created in the region through the financial and logistical backup of Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and a number of western states, specially the US," the source told FNA. Ali Mahdian told FNA that the US and the British governments have been playing with the al-Qaeda through their Arab proxy regimes in the region in a bid to materialize their goals, specially in Syria. He said the Saudi and Qatari regimes serve as interlocutors to facilitate the CIA and MI6 plans in Syria through instigating terrorist operations by Salafi and Arab Jihadi groups, adding that the terrorists do not know that they actually exercise the US plans. "Turkey has also been misusing extremist Salafis and Al-Qaeda terrorists to intensify the crisis in Syria and it has recently augmented its efforts in this regard by helping the new Al-Qaeda branch set up a camp in Northern Waziristan in Pakistan to train Al-Qaeda and Taliban members as well as Turkish Salafis and Arab Jihadis who are later sent to Syria for terrorist operations," said the source. He said the camp in Waziristan is not just a training center, but a command center for terrorist operations against Syria. Yet, the source said the US and Britain are looking at the new Al-Qaeda force as an instrument to attain their goals and do not intend to support them to ascend to power, "because if Salafi elements in Syria ascend to power, they will create many problems for the US, the Western states and Turkey in future". "Thus, the US, Britain and Turkey are looking at the Al-Qaeda as a tactical instrument," he said, and warned of the regional and global repercussions of the US and Turkish aid to the Al-Qaeda and Salafi groups. "Unfortunately, these group of countries have just focused on the short-term benefits that the Salafis and the Al-Qaeda can provide for them and ignore the perils of this support in the long run," he said. "At present, the western countries, specially Britain which hosts and controls the Jihadi Salafi groups throughout the world are paving the ground for these extremists to leave their homes - mostly in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the Untied Arab Emirates (UAE) as well as those who live in Europe and the US - for Waziristan," the source added. In relevant remarks, Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi last week blamed certain states, the Salafis and the Al-Qaeda for terrorist operations which have claimed the lives of thousands of people in his country, and said terrorist groups supported by certain foreign actors are misusing differences in his country to bring Syria into turmoil. Addressing the 16th heads-of-state summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) here in Tehran on Thursday, the Syrian premier noted terrorist attacks on his nation, and said the "terrorists are backed up by certain foreign states". "Many countries allege to be supporting peaceful solutions in Syria, but they oppose Annan's plan in practice," he said, and cautioned, "The responsibility for the failure of this plan lies on their shoulder as they strove to keep the Syrian crisis going and falsified events." "The world should know that the Syrian crisis, in fact, rises from foreign meddling. Certain well-known countries from inside and outside the region are seeking instability of Syria," the Syrian prime minister complained. Elaborating on the recent developments in Syria, al-Halqi said, "It has been proved that foreign-backed terrorist groups have been misusing events and killing the innocent people." "These terrorists include Salafis and Al-Qaeda Takfiri groups," he reiterated, and added, "Those states that support terrorism and oppose talks should be given moral and economic punishments as they are part of the problem in Syria."