ARAB NATIONALS HIRED TO FIGHT U.S.-LED COALITION

BAGHDAD [MENL] -- Saddam loyalists have hired thousands of Arab nationals to fight the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq.

Officials said nearly 200 foreign nationals have been captured in Faluja over the last week. They said the fighters were from Afghanistan, Iran, Jordan, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Syria.

"We have captured about 400 armed men [in Faluja]," Prime Minister Iyad Alawi said on Sunday. "Some of them are from Iraq and some of them are from abroad."

Officials said the insurgents hail from Afghanistan, Algeria, Jordan, Morocco, Syria and other Arab and Islamic countries. They said most of the insurgents arrived in Iran and Syria for recruitment and training and then crossed the border into Iraq.