In a dispatch posted on its website Saturday, Quds Press reported that the head of the Union of Tribes of Western Iraq in the area of the Upper Euphrates near the Syrian border had disclosed that the "Israeli" Mossad had increased its presence in those areas, beginning two months ago. He said that US forces are extending protection to the Mossad's cars and headquarters in the area.

Shaykh Ahmad al-Khanjar, the Chairman of the Union of Tribes of Western Iraq, an organization of 13 Iraqi tribes, told Quds Press that four-wheel-drive GMC cars belonging to the Mossad are present in the areas of al-Hadithah and nearby al-Haqlaniyah, 'Anah, al-Qa'im, Jubbah, and other villages. He said that the "Israelis" have been there for several months under American protection.

The Mossad men, al-Khanjar said, wear civilian clothing (some of them including yarmulkes) and travel around western Iraq under American guard. He said that the Mossad operatives stay in the headquarters that the Americans have set up in the old Customs Building near the Syrian border, in the former Iraqi Army Camp in the area of al-Baghdadi, about 200km northwest of Baghdad, and at the phosphate mining complex.

Shaykh al-Khanjar said that they have also established their own headquarters similar to the facilities used by the American occupation forces. The Mossad set up one of its headquarters in the former Hafsah Primary School in al-Qa'im on the Syrian border, and in the large building that formerly housed the headquarters of the "Projects for Roads, Bridges, and Travelers' Rest Stops." The Zionists have surrounded their facilities with large security fortifications and barbed wire, making it virtually impossible to break in. They have also set up communication towers atop those headquarters. In addition, the Shaykh said, they have recruited Iraqis willing to work for them inside the city.

Shaykh al-Khanjar said that the Mossad operatives come out of their headquarters every day, making three rounds outside the city accompanied by US escort vehicles. He said that local people were certain that the Mossad agents' mission was of a non-combat character, consisting of espionage and gathering information. Shaykh al-Khanjar said that the Iraqi Resistance attacked them on 17 July, destroying one of their vehicles and killing four of the people inside. After the attack it became clear from the papers and documents on the men that they were members of the "Israeli" Mossad.