"We have up to 20 suspected al-Qaeda members," Sanchez

Additional Reporting By Subhy Haddad, IOL Correspondent

BAGHDAD, November 11 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – As the U.S. occupation authorities in Iraq went on the offensive after a series of deadly resistance attacks that left a trail of dead U.S. soldiers, the top U.S. ground commander in the war-ravaged country said Tuesday, November 11, that the occupation forces are holding more than 5,000 people in its detention centers across the country.

Speaking at a press conference in Baghdad, Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez further said that the U.S. military has detained 20 men thought to have ties with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"We have up to 20 suspected al-Qaeda members," said Sanchez, adding they were still under investigation and had not yet been proved to belong to Bin Laden's organization.

Sanchez added the foreign fighters, if they were not al-Qaeda, had possibly received some financing and training from Bin Laden's organization or other "international terror groups."

"We haven’t made sure that those elements are related to the terrorist al-Qaeda organization, but they are probably related to other terror groups," IslamOnline.net quoted Sanchez as saying.

Sanchez put the number of foreign fighters in Iraq at "probably a couple of hundred." He added: "We know that they are coming in and out and we know where they are coming through."

He said that most of the foreign armed men who carried out attacks against the U.S. troops in Iraq have penetrated into the country from Syria, Egypt, Iran, Sudan and Yemen.

"We are seeing Yemenis, we are seeing Sudanese, and we are seeing Syrians and Egyptians," he said about cross-border traffic.

Sanchez further said that Iraqi and Arab "guerrillas" are launching an average of 30 armed attacks against the U.S. troops in Iraq on a daily basis.

"It is clear now that the number of attacks have increased and have risen to 30 attacks, thing that makes us in need to follow a new tactic to defeat the terrorists," he told reporters.

The attacks led to 148 U.S. soldiers killed in combat in Iraq since May 1, when Washington declared major combat over, according to an AFP count.

The toll does not include the six killed when a Black Hawk helicopter was forced down  Friday, November 7, even though an investigation ruled that it was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG).

The U.S. General admitted that his forces have failed to give "proper material for the newly-formed Iraqi security forces and police," such as bullet-proof jackets.

No More Troops

"The advice we're getting is just the opposite," Rumsfeld

In Washington, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld reiterated that there were enough troops to carry out their mission in Iraq effectively, saying, however, that he was willing to increase the number of troops if needs be.

"Needless to say, if at any moment military commanders indicated that they need more U.S. troops, I would certainly recommend to the President that we do increase the number of troops, but the advice we're getting is just the opposite," Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told the CBS News Early Show.

But he added: "I am perfectly willing to recommend to the President we increase the number of forces if in fact this is in the best interest of the country."

Some 130,000 U.S. troops are in Iraq, in addition to 22,000 troops from other countries.

Rumsfeld said last week some 85,000 soldiers and 43,000 reservists had been alerted they would be mobilized to Iraq early next year.

Asked if the United States is trying its best in Iraq, Rumsfeld said "there's no question that that's the case."

"We're in a low intensity war that needs to be won and we intend to win it," he said.

He would not say whether he stood by his pre-war assertion that Iraq possessed a wide variety of biological and chemical weapons stockpiles and an active nuclear weapons program.

The Defense Secretary further did not say whether he still felt confident that Iraq possessed the illegally weapons he alleged.