A U.S.-led assault on a compound controlled by an extremist Islamic group turned up a list of names of suspected militants living in the United States and what may be the strongest evidence yet linking the group to al-Qaida, coalition commanders said Monday. The cache of documents at the Ansar al-Islam compound, including computer discs and foreign passports belonging to Arab fighters from around the Middle East, could bolster the Bush administration’s claims that the two groups are connected, although there was no indication any of the evidence tied Ansar to Saddam Hussein as Washington has maintained. There were indications, however, that the group has been getting help from inside neighboring Iran. Kurdish and Turkish intelligence officials, some speaking on condition of anonymity, said many of Ansar’s 700 members have slipped out of Iraq and into Iran — putting them out of reach of coalition forces. The officials also said a U.S. missile strike on Ansar’s territory on the second day of the war missed most of its leadership — which crossed into Iran days earlier. Full Story
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