A videotape was aired today on Iraqi state-run television showing what was purported to be a Syrian officer confessing that he trained Iraqi insurgents to behead foreigners, build car bombs and orchestrate attacks on Americans and Iraqi government troops.

The man in the video also said he had insurgents practice beheadings on animals to prepare them for killing human beings.

The authenticity of the tape could not be verified. The Bush Administration has long said that Syria was aiding the insurgents and hiding former officials of Saddam Hussein's government but no proof of this has been made public. Syria has denied the accusations.

The man in the videotape identifies himself as Lieutenant Anas Ahmed al-Essa of the Syrian intelligence service. He claims that his group had been recruited to 'cause chaos in Iraq' and to bar America from reaching Syria.'

He later claims, 'We received all the instructions from Syrian intelligence.'

The tape was apparently made in Mosul but no date was supplied.

The video was aired on Iraqiya TV which is run with input from the Pentagon and provides a very pro-American point of view. Many Iraqis view it as American propaganda.

Relations between Syria and the United States remain tense. President Bush recently removed the American ambassador to Damascus in the wake of the recent assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri. Syria has denied any involvement in Hariri's death. President Bush has also demanded that Syria end its 15 year long occupation of Lebanon.

Syrian officials have yet to comment on the videotape.