Iraqi minister says stopping recruits is key to fighting Al Qaeda

ISTANBUL -- Iraq's interior minister said yesterday that capturing insurgent leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is not important: Instead, the key to fighting his Al Qaeda group is to cut off the flow of his recruits.

Bayan Jabr said in an exclusive interview that Zarqawi was weaker after a recent crackdown in Baghdad by 40,000 Iraqi and US troops.

Jabr also demanded that Iraq's neighbors, especially Syria and Jordan, take stronger measures to stem the flow of militants and money for the insurgency from their territory into Iraq. He said he had pictures and addresses of insurgents in Syria.

''It is not important to capture or not capture al-Zarqawi," Jabr said. ''The problem is not to let al-Zarqawi get more followers."

Zarqawi, the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, has carried out some of the bloodiest attacks of the insurgency, including car bombings and videotaped beheadings of foreigners.

But Jabr said Zarqawi ''is weak now" after coalition forces forced him from Baghdad. ''He needs more followers. He needs more fighters," Jabr said.

Jabr spoke as the interior ministers of Iraq's neighbors gathered in a former Ottoman palace for a meeting on Iraqi border security. He said he would call on Jordan and Syria to do more to help fight the insurgency.

Insurgent leaders are in Syria ''and I have addresses and I have some pictures -- pictures of these terrorists," Jabr said.

Asked whether Syria has increased measures to stop the militants from crossing into Iraq, Jabr replied: ''I can say no."

The Syrians ''say 'we are ready to cooperate,' and I hope they cooperate. But only talking is not sufficient," Jabr said. But when asked whether he expected Syria to cooperate, Jabr shook his head.

''We have to protect our borders," he said.

Syria expressed ''deep regret" over Jabr's comments, the state-run news agency SANA said, quoting an unidentified Foreign Ministry official. The official said Syria is eager to cooperate in fighting the insurgency and has already expanded border patrols and checkpoints to stop militants from entering Iraq.

He also said Syria sent a delegation to Baghdad last month to brief Iraqi officials on its border control efforts; the delegates asked Iraqi authorities to provide information concerning infiltrations, but Damascus has not yet received anything.

Jabr said that while Jordan was committed to cracking down on insurgents and their supporters, Iraqi expatriates in Jordan are still managing to support the militants financially, Jabr said -- noting that Zarqawi is Jordanian-born.