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Length: 5:31
BETTY NGUYEN: Well, there
is a new enemy operating in Iraq. The U.S. military
confirming a story first reported right here on CNN.
Hezbollah fighters from Lebanon aligning with Iraq's
Quds Force Special Operations Unit to coordinate
attacks on U.S. troops.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIG. GEN. KEVIN BERGNER, MULTINATIONAL FORCE-IRAQ
SPOKESMAN: Quds Force, along with Hezbollah
instructors, train approximately 20 to 60 Iraqis at a
time, sending them back to Iraq organized into these
"special groups." They're being taught how to use
EFPs, mortars, rockets, as well as intelligence,
sniper, and kidnapping operations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Well, CNN's Michael Ware first broke this
story and has exclusive details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These
men are masters of guerilla warfare: Lebanon's
Hezbollah. Last year, they claimed victory over the
might of the Israeli Defense Force. Now believed to
be fighting another war in Iraq.
U.S. intelligence sources say they have captured one
of Hezbollah's top special operations commanders, Ali
Musssa Daqduq. Said to be an expert with these
roadside bombs, his role in Iraq was so covert, there
are no known pictures of him here, save for this
prison mug shot and a confession, which coalition
forces have not released. Captured on March 20 in the
southern city of Basra, the Americans say he and the
Iraqi militia commanders he trained and led admitted
working with Iran's elite Quds Force Special
Operations Unit.
Documents, forensic evidence, and the personal
effects of dead American soldiers seen by members of
the Iraqi government and shown to CNN support their
claims. After months of interviews with Shi'ia
militia members in Iraq, as well as Iraqi government
and intelligence officials, CNN sought the U.S.
military's comment, but it was not until today that
the military confirmed the arrest.
BERGNER: He is Lebanese-born and has served for the
past 24 years in Lebanese Hezbollah. He was in Iraq
working as a surrogate for Iranian Revolutionary
Guard Corps Quds Force operatives involved with
"special groups."
WARE: Senior U.S. intelligence officials say their
confirmation of Hezbollah's long-rumored involvement
in Iraq began with this: the January 20 attack on
American soldiers in Karbala, a well-planned attempt
to kidnap five GIs that went horribly wrong, ending
with the soldiers' execution.
Senior U.S. military officials tell CNN that after
the attack, the order came to hunt down the men
responsible and kill or capture them. That mission
has been a stunning success. A few weeks ago, during
a raid in Baghdad's Sadr City slum, American and
Iraqi forces killed this man, Azar al-Dulaimi, said
to be the mastermind who led the Karbala attack.
While Mahdi army militiamen mourned his death in this
memorial in Sadr City filmed by CNN, coalition
operations across the country had already seen most
of those behind the kidnap attempt killed or
imprisoned.
Early results in the U.S. investigation led to this
man, Qais Khazali, seen here in 2003 when he was the
spokesman for rebel cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi
army. By the time of his March arrest, he had left
the Mahdi army and come to head one of the most
feared organizations in the country, known as the
"special groups," a well-trained, well-financed and
efficient paramilitary unit modeled on Hezbollah. And
according to U.S. intelligence sponsored by Iran's
Quds Force, a claim Hezbollah's Daqduq and the Iraqi
leader Khazali have apparently admitted during their
interrogations.
Looking for Khazali, the coalition troops found more
than even they had hoped: computer documents
detailing the planning, training and conduct of the
failed kidnap. What they didn't know is they had also
scooped up Hezbollah's advisor to the Iraqi "special
groups." Originally pretending to be deaf and mute,
Daqduq's real identity was not revealed for weeks.
Once uncovered, though, American officials say he
began to talk.
The Americans now believe his role was crucial to the
Karbala attack. What remains a mystery is why
Lebanese Hezbollah's leadership would risk sending
advisors to Iraq. American intelligence officers
suspect Hezbollah had no choice - indebted to Iran's
Quds Force for its decades of military and financial
support.
Contacted by CNN, a Hezbollah spokesman in Lebanon
said he would not dignify the U.S. allegations with a
response. And though representatives of Iraq's Mahdi
army militia and cleric Muqtada al-Sadr say they
share some of Hezbollah's ideals, they deny receiving
any military aid.
"I say clearly that we do not accept any logistics,
financial, or any other kind of support from anyone
outside the borders of Iraq," says this advisor to
Sadr. The Iraqi government declined to comment. And
though Tehran has repeatedly denied arming or aiding
any militia forces in Iraq, Daqduq's arrest and the
weight of Washington's new evidence of Hezbollah's
presence in Iraq may just demand fresh answers from
Iran.
Michael Ware, CNN, Baghdad.