Iraqi terrorists trained in Pakistan

Iraqi TV airs tape of purported confession

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The Syrian intelligence officer who appeared on the U.S.-funded Iraqi state television station had a stark message about the insurgency - he'd helped train people to build car bombs and behead people.

"My name is Anas Ahmed al-Essa. I live in Halab. I am from Syria," he said by way of introduction - naming what he said was his home in Syria. Halab is another name for Aleppo, a city north of Damascus.

An unidentified Iraqi officer introduced the video, saying all insurgent groups in Iraq were covers for Syrian intelligence. He named a number of well-known groups, including one which has killed and beheaded foreigners.

Al-Essa claimed to be leader of the al-Fateh Army, a group that had not been heard of previously.

Al-Sabaawi described himself as a former lieutenant colonel in Saddam's army. He said he was recruited at an Iraqi mosque in 2001 by an Iraqi man named Abu Bakr, whom he described as the al-Fateh Army's leader.

"He offered to take us on a training trip to Islamabad," the Pakistani capital, al-Sabaawi said. "He told us that we could develop our skills, give us information about how to make car bombs and carry out kidnappings."

Before returning to Iraq, al-Sabaawi said he spent 11 months in Pakistan. He did not say who trained him there.