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A network of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's cousins, operating in Syria and Jordan, is actively involved in the smuggling of guns, people and money into Iraq to support the anti-US insurgency, the New York Times reported on Monday.
At least three of Saddam's cousins from the Majid family who now live in Syria and Europe are involved in the smuggling. One leading figure among them is Fatiq Suleiman al-Majid, a cousin of Saddam and a former official of Iraq's Special Security Organization, US officials were quoted by the paper as saying.
Al-Majid fled Iraq to Syria in spring last year and may still be living there, the report said.
The view that these people are helping finance the insurgency developed fairly recently and appeared in intelligence reports, the report said.
However, US military and intelligence officials acknowledged that a significant component of the resistance come from common Iraqi people who have no ties with Saddam's government, the report said.
Saddam's family has a history of intermarriage with the Majid clan, and Saddam's full name is Saddam Hussein al-Majid al-Tikriti, the report added.
US-led coalition forces toppled the Saddam regime last year but have failed to put down the insurgency which has inflicted heavy casualties on Iraqis and coalition forces.
(Xinhua News Agency July 6, 2004)
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