What had once been an assembly point in Syria for Arabs eager to fight in Iraq is now abandoned. Posters of Palestinian “martyrs” in Iraq in a Palestinian refugee camp near Damascus are torn and faded. U.S. officials believe foreign fighters are heading to Iraq to fight coalition forces. But if they are slipping into Iraq from Syria and other countries on Iraq’s borders, they are going quietly or, officials say, without support from groups like al-Qaida. Yarmouk, on the outskirts of Damascus, was the source of an estimated 300 Arab volunteers who went to Iraq to fight during the war, in the spring. Now, residents say it’s been months since they’ve heard of volunteers going to fight, bodies returning home or memorials held for slain men. Full Story
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