Washington:: Iranian-backed forces devised new forms of suicide vests for al-Qaeda to use in Iraq, assessments released by controversial web site Wikileaks reveal.
Intelligence of variable quality hint at Iranian involvement in al-Qaeda suicide bombing, but American leaders have both claimed the existence of such links and backed away from them, the Telegraph reveals.
A threat report in the files dated November 17, 2006 claims that new techniques for suicide bombing, a favoured al-Qaeda and Sunni insurgent practice in Iraq, had 'surfaced' in Iran and Syria.
Both involved the use of miniature cameras to allow remote monitoring of the attack.
"Al-Qaeda remains the strongest organisation among the insurgent groups in Iraq and directs the majority of attacks that take place in Iraq," the Telegraph quotes the assessment, as saying.
It added: "Instructors at the Islamic Jihad Center in Tehran are teaching a new tactic for SVIED (Suicide Vest Improvised Explosive Device) deployment."
It is not clear how credible the intelligence cited is considered, and there are no reports of camera-equipped suicide vests being found. Islamic Jihad is a militant Palestinian group that has been responsible for suicide bombings in the past and is backed by Syria and Iran.
The relationship between Iraq, Syria and Iran is one of the key variables of the jigsaw of the Iraqi insurgency.
The current Iraqi government has claimed Saddam Hussein loyalists involved in an informal Sunni alliance with al-Qaeda are based in Syria.
Yet the government also has close ties with Iran, Syria's close ally.