Congress Secretly Approves US Weapons to Syria Armed Groups

Local Editor

US and European security officials confirmed Monday that light arms supplied by the United States are flowing to Syria armed factions in the south of the country.

They further highlighted that US funding for months of further deliveries has been approved by the Congress.
The weapons, most of which are moving to armed groups via Jordan, include a variety of small arms, as well as some more powerful weapons, such as anti-tank rockets.

According to the officials, "the deliveries do not include weapons such as shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles, known as MANPADs."

The weapons deliveries have been funded by the US Congress, in votes behind closed doors, through the end of government fiscal year 2014, which ends on September 30, two officials said.

Congress approved funding for weapons deliveries to the Syrian armed groups in classified sections of military appropriations legislation, two sources familiar with the matter said. It was not clear when the funding was approved, but unclassified military funding passed Congress in late December.

Some additional budget tweaks may be necessary to ensure that all the approved funding is fully available for disbursement during the current fiscal year.
"The Kurdish groups that had been providing weapons and other aid financed by donors in the Gulf state of Qatar indiscriminately to both moderate and religious extremist rebel factions had greatly reduced their involvement in the arms traffic," one of the officials said.

A White House spokeswoman had no comment. Other US agencies did not respond to requests for comment.
"We hope to be able to resume assistance to the SMC shortly, pending security and logistics considerations," said the official, referring to the so-called Supreme Military Council. "But we have no announcements at this time," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Non-lethal aid was resumed to civilian groups in that region in late December.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team