Top US-backed Commander in Syria Run Out: US Officials
Local Editor
The commander of the foreign-backed opposition's main military wing, the so-called "Free Syrian Army", General Salim Idris has fled the country after extremist militants from the so-called "Islamic Front" took over key bases and warehouses belonging to FSA.
Idris flew to the Qatari capital of Doha Sunday after fleeing to Turkey, Wall Street Journal quoted US officials as saying.
"He fled as a result of the Islamic Front taking over his headquarters," a senior U.S. official said.
An "Islamic Front" spokesman said Idris fled to Turkey.
The New York Times said Idris flew temporarily to Doha but was now back in Turkey, where he has a house. The 13-month-old US-backed "Syrian National Coalition, which supports the FSA, is based in Doha.
According to the paper, the "Islamic Front" is a recently formed alliance of the largest Islamist rebel groups that excludes the two main al Qaeda-linked rebel groups-the Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham-and is considered the more moderate faction among Islamist rebel groups.
Moreover, two US senior officials said the warehouses taken over by the Islamic Front appeared to contain a range of lethal and nonlethal equipment.
The Central Intelligence Agency has been providing small amounts of arms to handpicked moderate rebels. A CIA spokesperson declined to comment on whether American weapons were in the warehouses that were seized by the Islamic Front. Gen. Idris also receives weapons from other countries, including Saudi Arabia.
The warehouses also housed nonlethal military gear, including American-supplied trucks and communications equipment.
The Obama administration is urging Idris to return to Syria, the US officials told the Journal.
The "Islamic Front" seized depots belonging to the FSA near the Turkish border last weekend, before taking control of the Bab al-Tawa crossing itself on Dec. 10, according to monitors.
The seizure stimulated the US and the UK to suspend non-lethal aid to rebels in northern Syria.
Source: Newspapers, edited by website team
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