Handover of Power Draws Closer
GRIFFIN: Welcome back to CNN SUNDAY MORNING. I'm Drew Griffin. Three days now to the transfer of political power in Iraq. Coalition officials say that while Iraqi security forces still need some help, they're optimistic the Iraqis will soon be able to take more of a lead role.</s>DAN SENOR, CPA SPOKESMAN: But we hope over time, the Iraqis will be in a better position to assume front line positions and play the enforcer role, rather than just relying on us. And we can move into a position of being the re-enforcers. I think it's important to keep in mind that while the security services have not been as professional as we hoped they would be by this point, and while the security services certainly need our support, many individual Iraqis have performed heroically, particularly Iraqi police force.</s>GRIFFIN: Those Iraqi security forces, along with coalition troops, are facing what seemed like non-stop attacks from insurgents they've been referred to as foreign fighters. But just who are they? CNN's Jim Clancy has some answers from Dubai and the United Arab Emirates.</s>JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Posters honoring those who died fighting against the Americans, found not in Baghdad or the Sunni Triangle, but here in a Yarmouk a Palestinian refugee camp in neighboring Syria. Ahmed, who spoke on the condition he remains anonymous, lives here. He says he's been to Iraq several times waging war on U.S. troops. "</s>AHMED," (through translator): We tried to hide among civilians. We hit and tried to hide.</s>CLANCY: When U.S. troops first invaded Iraq, Ahmed and others from here took buses to the Syrian-Iraqi border and paid money to be smuggled across. "</s>AHMED," (through translator): There were American patrols everywhere. Anywhere you want to target them we set up with bombs, like weapons, and rocket-propelled grenades.</s>CLANCY: Just how many of these so-called foreign fighters are in Iraq is not clear. Coalition military estimates have ranged from the hundreds all the way into the thousands.</s>DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Oh, it's tough to know. The borders are porous. We know a lot of them came in from Syria, we know some came in from Iran.</s>CLANCY: The coalition says there are some 200 of what it calls "third party nationals" that it has in custody. Ahmed says they come from all over the Arab world. "</s>AHMED" (through translator): There are groups of Syrians and Palestinians, Saudis, Yemenis, they are from all nationalities.</s>CLANCY: The biggest impact of these foreign fighters seems to be suicide bombings, like this one in the heart of Baghdad.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All suicide bombers, they are not Iraqis.</s>CLANCY (on camera): All across the Arab world, Iraq has become a rallying cry against the United States. Moreover, it is a place where arms are easily available; there is an abundance of U.S.-linked targets, and, therefore, the opportunity to having claimed having taken part in a jihad against America. (voice-over): Much in the way a previous generation went to Afghanistan and fought against the Soviets, many becoming followers of a young man names Osama bin Laden.</s>JONATHAN STEVENSON, INST. FOR STRATEGIC STUDIES: Those who have gone to Iraq will stand in similar shoes to those who went to Afghanistan.</s>CLANCY: In Yarmouk, there are already monuments to those who gave their lives in Iraq. Ahmed wants to sneak back across the border from Syria, he says. He also says he still considering becoming a suicide bomber. Jim Clancy, CNN, Dubai.</s>GRIFFIN: And you can see more of Jim Clancy's reporting on foreign fighters in Iraq tonight on a CNN PRESENTS special report: "COUNTDOWN TO HANDOVER" at 8:00 p.m. Eastern right here on</s>CNN. NGUYEN: And you want to stay with CNN for complete coverage of the handover. That is starting at 7:00 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday. We've got a full line-up for you, as sovereignty is passed from the U.S.-led coalition to the Iraqis.</s>GRIFFIN: Soldier Carl Covington's heroic will to live from near fatal wounds in Iraq to rebuilding his shattered body one lap at a time. His story is just ahead. Also, a league of their own. When someone says hey, you play like a girl, these players say thank you.