Syrian involvement!

Iraq says has photos of Syrians with guerrillas(Reuters)23 December 2004
LONDON - Iraq has photographs of Syrian officials with guerrillas who have been fighting U.S.-led forces before planned national elections next month, a senior Iraqi diplomat said on Thursday. The Iraqi ambassador to Syria, Hassan Allawi, told Britain’s Times newspaper in an interview his country had photographs that showed Syrian officials with guerrillas who were captured when U.S. and Iraqi forces stormed Falluja last month.
“Prime Minister Iyad Allawi wrote a letter to the Syrians saying he had pictures but was not going to release them, despite being under pressure from the Americans to do so,” the ambassador said.
Hassan Allawi said the photographs were found on a leader of a group of former Baathist intelligence personnel who served under Saddam Hussein.
He said one picture showed a guerrilla, named by the Times as Moayed Ahmed Yasseen, also known as Abu Ahmed, standing next to a senior Syrian official. The Times said Yasseen was arrested in Falluja in mid-November.
Iraq has repeatedly accused Syria of helping Jordanian al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and Saddam supporters to wage an insurgency before the Jan. 30 elections.
Syria denies any links to guerrillas in Iraq and says it is doing its best to tighten security along its hundreds of miles (km) of desert border.
U.S. President George W. Bush has warned Syria not to meddle in Iraq and has threatened to use economic and diplomatic measures against Damascus.
Washington accused Syria of sending military equipment to Iraq during last year’s U.S.-led war that toppled Saddam.
Allawi told the Times there had been an “Iraqi Baathist invasion of Syria” since Saddam’s fall that threatened the Damascus government.
“It is overwhelming,” he said. “They stole gold and robbed banks and came here. They have enough funds to keep fighting for 30 years.”