No foreign fighters in Iraq border town, rebels claim-Chicago Tribune |

Chicago Tribune | No foreign fighters in Iraq border town, rebels claim: "May 14, 2005

AL QAIM, Iraq -- Iraqi fighters toting machine guns and grenade launchers walked the rubble-strewn streets of this town on the Syrian border Friday, setting up checkpoints and preparing to do battle amid a major U.S. offensive.

The U.S. military says the remote desert region is a haven for foreign combatants who slip across the border along ancient smuggling routes and collect weapons to use in some of Iraq's deadliest attacks. But the fighters who remain in this Sunni town about 200 miles west of Baghdad insist there are no foreigners.

'We are all Iraqis,' said one gunman, his face covered with a scarf. He said the fighters were trying to prevent U.S. forces from entering."