'3,000 foreign fighters in Iraq'

Washington: As many as 3,000 foreigners are fighting US and coalition forces in Iraq, a US military analyst reported on Thursday.

Algerians constituted the highest percentage of the foreign fighters, about 20 per cent, followed by Syrians, Yemenis, Sudanese, Egyptians and Saudis, said Anthony Cordesman in a report on the findings.

"If there are 3,000 foreign fighters in Iraq, this poses a serious threat," Cordesman said.

Cordesman, an expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that US sources have put the number of the foreign fighters under Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi at only about 1,000 and believe the number has increased since the January 30 elections.

"In any case, the exact numbers are largely irrelevant. All it takes is enough volunteers to continue to support suicide attacks and violent bombings, and to seek to drive Iraqi Sunnis towards a major and intense civil war," Cordesman wrote.

"They also pose a threat because many are likely to survive and be the source of violence and extremism in other countries," he added.