Al Qaeda luring recruits to fight in Afghanistan

A fresh influx of jihadi fighters is being drawn to Afghanistan from Turkey, Central Asia, Chechnya and the Middle East, one more sign that al Qaeda is regrouping on what is fast becoming the most active front of the war on terror groups.

More foreigners are infiltrating Afghanistan because of a recruitment drive by al Qaeda, as well as a burgeoning insurgency that has made movement easier across the border from Pakistan, U.S. officials, militants and experts say. For the past two months, Afghanistan has overtaken Iraq in deaths of U.S. and allied troops, and nine American soldiers were killed Sunday at a remote base in Kunar province in the deadliest attack in years.

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, warned during a visit to Kabul this month about an increase in foreign fighters crossing into Afghanistan from Pakistan, where a new government is trying to negotiate with militants.

Two U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information, told the Associated Press that the U.S. is closely monitoring the flow of foreign fighters into Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Meanwhile, the Defense Department announced in Washington that it will send close to 800 more bomb-resistant vehicles to Afghanistan, where a resurgent Taliban has military leaders developing plans to add thousands of U.S. troop reinforcements.

The hulking vehicles, known as MRAPs, protect U.S. personnel from the powerful blasts of roadside bombs, the No. 1 cause of combat deaths and injuries.

Yesterday in Iraq, where things are becoming more secure, Kuwait named its first ambassador to Iraq since the 1991 Gulf War, a major step toward healing the two countries' painful past.

The announcement came as the Sunni leader of Lebanon's parliamentary majority met with Iraq's Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki - also reflecting Iraq's efforts to reconcile with aloof Arab neighbors and tamp down sectarian tension across the region.

Kuwait closed its embassy in Iraq in 1990, after Saddam Hussein invaded his tiny, oil-rich neighbor. The attack spurred the 1991 U.S.-led invasion to oust Saddam's forces.

The two neighbors had no relations until more than a dozen years later, when another American invasion toppled Saddam. They resumed ties after 2003, and an Iraqi Embassy reopened in Kuwait.

Kuwait had held back from reopening its embassy in Baghdad, however, citing security concerns. Diplomats from Bahrain, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and other Arab countries have all been either killed, wounded or kidnapped in Iraq since 2003. *