A new report suggests that 45 percent of all the foreign fighters and bombers in Iraq are Saudi nationals despite the US allegations.

Most foreign fighters and suicide bombers in Iraq come from Saudi Arabia, despite attempts by US officials to portray Syria and Iran as the main culprits of violence, The Los Angeles Times reported Sunday.

About 45 percent of all foreign militants attacking the US troops and Iraqi security forces were from Saudi Arabia, 15 percent from Syria and Lebanon, and 10 percent from North Africa, the Los Angeles Times added citing unnamed US military officer and Iraqi lawmakers.

Official US military figures made available to The Times also show that nearly half of the 135 foreigners in US detention facilities in Iraq are Saudis.

Fighters from Saudi Arabia are thought to have carried out more suicide bombings than those of any other nationality, the newspaper added.

The situation has left the US military in a difficult position of battling an enemy whose main foreign fighters is a key ally that at best has not been able to prevent its citizens from undertaking bloody attacks in Iraq, and the worst is sending extremists to commit attacks against US forces, Iraqi civilians and the government in Baghdad, the paper concluded.

MKH/RE