http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L15163327.htmAMMAN, July 15 (Reuters) - Muslim militants are increasingly using Syria as a clandestine haven for fighters heading to Iraq, Jordanian officials said on Friday, adding that they had no proof the Damascus government condoned such activities. Security officials in U.S. ally Jordan said interrogations of 12 Jordanian militants arrested this year had revealed links with Syrian Islamists promoting jihad (holy war) in Iraq.
"We are finding that many of these people are getting help from Syrian Islamist radicals who are helping them to undergo training and (get) financing and even equipment like explosives detonators they smuggle back to Jordan or use in Iraq," said one official involved in the case who requested anonymity.
Officials and security sources say they have no evidence the networks were operating with the consent of Syria's secular Baathist government, which battled Sunni Muslim radicals in the 1980s and has cracked down on similar groups in recent months.
Damascus has repeatedly denied U.S. charges that it allows militants battling U.S. forces in Iraq to use its territory as a staging ground. It says it has deployed 7,000 soldiers on its border with Iraq and complains it has been denied monitoring equipment.
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