SYRIA.REUTERS AND THE US STATE DEPT. IRAQI JOURNALIST...
Iraqi Shi'ite militants fight for Syria's Assad  By Suadad al-Salhy BAGHDAD
Scores of Iraqi Shi'ite militants are fighting in Syria, often alongside President Bashar al-Assad's troops, and pledging loyalty to Iran's supreme Shi'ite religious leader, according to militia fighters and politicians in Iraq. "We formed the Abu al-Fadhal al-Abbas brigade which includes 500 Iraqi, Syrian and some other nationalities," an Iraqi defector from the Mehdi Army who goes by the name of Abu Hajar told Reuters by satellite telephone from Syria."When the fighting erupted in our areas, we carried out some joint military operations side by side with the Syrian army to clean up areas seized by rebels," said Abu Hajar, who like others was a refugee in Syria before the conflict.The brigade is named after Abu al-Fadhl al-Abbas, a brother of Imam Hussain Bin Ali, a grandson of the Prophet Mohammed. Al-Abbas was killed with his brother more than 1,300 years ago, and since then has become a symbol of sacrifice for Shi'ite Islam.Another Mehdi Army defector, Abu Mujahid, who recently returned from Syria to visit his family in the Iraqi city of Najaf said his group's mission in Syria was restricted to securing the famed Sayyida Zeinab Shi'ite shrine and its nearby Shi'ite neighborhoods.But sometimes, he said, they carry out pre-emptive raids on Free Syrian Army rebel fighters, whenever they get information rebels will attack the shrine, offices of Shi'ite religious leaders, known as Marjaiya, and Shi'ite neighborhoods."Our mission is securing the shrine, the Shi'ite areas and the Marjaiya offices," Abu Mujahid said. "We have no clear battlefield, but, from time to time, we carry out raids with the army on the sites of the Free Syrian Army."

[ED NOTES:WETHER OR NOT WHAT THIS REPORTER SAYS IS TRUE OR MADE UP WE DONT KNOW.IS IT POSSIBLE?ANYTHING IS,ESPECIALLY REGARDING SYRIA CONFLICT,HOWEVER I GET IMPRESSION THIS PIECE IS PURE BS. NO VERIFICATION FOR ANY CLAIMS MADE BY THIS SO CALLED JOURNALIST OF COURSE ABOUT SHIITE IRAQIS IN SYRIA JUST EHARSAY AND SUPPOSED CLAIMS MADE BY CERTAIN GROUPS AND POLITICIANS(ALL WICH THERE IS NO REAL REFERENCES).HERE IS WHAT IS SUSPECT..ON THIS JOURNALIST...  Media Practice in Iraq - Google Books Result TURNS OUT SUADAD HAD WORKED FOR SAUDI PAPER AL HAYAT!!!WAIT IT GETS MORE INTERESTING.. Suadad al-Salhy is an Iraqi reporter who recently joined The New York Times in Iraq. In May she was one of five Iraqi journalists who visited the United States on a reporting tour organized by the State Department to learn about 'How America's Middle East Policy is Formulated.' http://www.zoominfo.com/#!search/profile/person?personId=1292410810&targetid=profile FROM HER TWITTER PAGE..  https://twitter.com/suadadalsalhy  Suadad al-Salhy

@suadadalsalhy Reuters Correspondent in Baghdad, short fiction stories writer , wife and mother. Tweets = my own. suadad.alsalhy@thomsonreuters.com SO SHE IS A WRITER OF SHORT FICTION STORIES???SHE WORKED FOR SAUDI PAPER AT ONE TIME!AND SHE WAS ONE OF 5 IRAQI REPORTERS WHO VISITED US STATE DEPT TO LEARN HOW AMERICAS MIDDLE EAST POLICY IS FORMULATED?! I SEE!NOW I GET IT...FORGIVE ME,I' MSORRY I HAVE A TENDENCY NOT TO ACCEPT CLAIMS MADE BY FICTION WRITERS POSING AS JOURNALISTS..I ONCE KNEW  AMAN WHO CLAIMED TO BE A SERIOUS JOURNALIST,HE WENT BY PEN NAME EZWRITTER..HE WOULD ALWAYS MAKE WILD CLAIMS AND USE THE MOST DISCREDITTED SOURCES...LATER, IT TURNS OUT HE ADMITTED HE USED TO WORK FOR A SUPER MARKET TABLOID NEWSPAPER ...MEANWHILE HE ASSURED ME THAT WA SIN THE PAST AND NOW HE WAS CREDIBLE LOL