Suicide bombers in Iraq often drive American [View All]

WASHINGTON – The FBI’s counterterrorism unit has launched a broad investigation of U.S.-based theft rings after discovering that some of the cars used in deadly bombings in Iraq, including attacks that killed U.S. troops and Iraqi civilians, probably were stolen in the United States, according to senior government officials.

Terrorism specialists think Iraqi insurgents prefer American stolen cars because they tend to be larger, blend in better with U.S. convoys and are harder to identify as stolen.

The inquiry began after coalition troops raided a bomb-making factory in Fallujah last November and found a sport utility vehicle registered in Texas that was being prepared for a bombing mission.

Investigators said they are comparing other cases in which cars evidently stolen in the United States wound up in Syria or other countries in the Middle East and into the hands of Iraqi insurgent groups – including al-Qaida in Iraq, led by Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

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