Foreign groups backed jail-break

Iraq's deputy interior minister, Adnan al-Assadi revealed on Thursday that al-Qaeda received international help to carry out recent jail breaks to free some of their detained leaders. According to al-Assadi, security official’s received information suggesting the operation could take place but chose to ignore it. In a press release, al-Assadi said he called on Saudi Arabia to stop funding terrorists in Iraq for sectarian reasons. “We call on Saudi Arabia to stop any terrorist action against Iraqi, and Iraq on the other hand, stops any terrorist actions against Saudi Arabia,” he said. He said the Iraqi interior ministry got information about an international plot to free al-Qaeda leaders prior to the the jailbreak, pointing out that the ministry informed its department in Baghdad, the federal police in charge of prisons and the ministry of justice, as well as the operations command in Baghdad; however the required actions were not taken. The former US ambassador to Iraq, Christopher Hill said in secret communications with the State Department, that according to the British-based newspaper The Guardian, Saudi Arabia is bankrolling al-Qaeda operatives to commit terrorist attacks and incite sectarian violence in Iraq, adding that Riyadh is hoping the violence will destabilize the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. On August 2, Maliki blamed other countries, without naming any names, for the violence in Iraq and the spate of bomb attacks, pointing out that the Iraqi security crisis is not a “collapse” and warning neighbours of trying to destroy Iraq’s security and stability. July 21, two Iraqi prisons were attacked, Abu Ghraib in the west of the capital and Taji in the north, freeing more than 500 prisoners.