Iraq Masses Security Forces Along Syria Border as Tensions Mount

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has ordered thousands of additional national police deployed to the border with Syria, saying it was needed to prevent insurgents from infiltrating into the nation. Tensions between Iraq and Syria have been rising in recent weeks as Iraq has sought to implicated Syria in last month’s major Baghdad suicide bombings.

The two nations withdrew their respective ambassadors in August, after Iraq demanded that Syria hand over top Ba’athists and Syria refused. The Ba’athist Party of Iraq was in power until the 2003 US invasion, and many of its Sunni followers fled to neighboring Syria, where their own Ba’athist Party is still in power.

Since the withdrawal of their ambassadors, Iraq has broadcast two confessions on state media related to the Baghdad attacks. The first was a Ba’athist who claimed responsibility and said he had been living in Syria. Then, upping the ante, a second confession of an al-Qaeda member was produced. He also claimed responsibility for the attacks, and added the claim that he received training in a Syrian al-Qaeda camp, which was being run by top members of the Syrian government.

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