The radical Palestinian group, Islamic Jihad, said yesterday it had sent a first wave of suicide-bombers to Baghdad to help Iraqis fight US and British troops.
"Al-Quds Brigades brings to our people and nation the good news of the arrival of its first martyrdom (attackers) to the heart of Baghdad," a faxed statement from the armed wing of Islamic Jihad said.
Islamic Jihad has claimed responsibility for the suicide-bombing at a crowded pedestrian mall in the Israeli seaside town of Netanya that injured at least 30 people, calling the attack a "gift" to the Iraqi people.
The group's Lebanon representative, Abu Imad al-Rifai, confirmed the statement. He said the bombers had not come from Palestinian territories but from several countries. He declined to say how many potential Islamic Jihad suicide-bombers had gone to Iraq.
"Some have already arrived and others will come later... If there are means for people to go, they will," he said.
Asked if the Islamic Jihad members said to have gone to Baghdad had orders to carry out suicide-bombings, he said: "Yes, correct."
Iraqi authorities said President Saddam Hussein had awarded posthumous medals to a suicide-bomber who killed four US soldiers in Iraq on Saturday. - (Reuters)
