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Syrian rebels deny being Taliban like militants

Dunya News

Syria's opposition says US must overcome its fear of Islamists among rebels.

Islamists are among the most effective fighters against the Syrian leadership, some opposition figures said, and Washington needs to know that while these rebels are conservative Muslims they are a far cry from Afghan-style jihadi militants.Frustration is growing that the United States will not supply weapons to the rebels, who have largely used small arms during the 16-month uprising against Assad and a state apparatus dominated by members of his Alawite minority.We have been kissing the hand of the United States and the rest of the world for the 16 months to intervene. Now, after Assad spared no one in Syria, the United States is surprised that al Qaeda may be operating in the country, veteran opposition campaigner Fawaz al-Tello said from Istanbul.Opposition campaigners and Free Syrian Army commanders said the rebels need weapons such as shoulder-fired missiles to destroy the tanks and bring down the helicopters that Assad is using against the uprising. Washington could anyway supply parts of the diverse rebel movement which are more to its liking.The US has intelligence on the ground and by clever management it can channel weapons to the right people. First it has to give a clear signal that it really wants an end of the Alawite-dominated police state in Syria and not just the sidelining of Bashar, said Tello, speaking from Istanbul.World powers struck an agreement on Saturday that a transitional Syrian government should be set up to end the conflict in which more than 10,000 people have died, but they remained at odds over what part Assad might play.So far the United States has supplied almost negligible amounts of non-lethal aid such as walkie-talkie radios trickling across the Lebanese border, opposition figures said.Officials have made clear Washington opposes arming the rebels because they lack a unified command and due to concerns that high-tech weapons may fall into the hands of Islamists.Mohaimen al-Rumaid, a member of the Syrian Rebel Front, said. Washington was failing to recognise that the countrys Islamist rebels were different from the Taliban fighting NATO-led forces in Afghanistan, and that they were not anti-American.The Americans have not come to terms with the fact that Islamist elements are among the most effective fighters in Syria and that they are not militant or jihadist in the Afghan sense. Syrians have always been conservative Muslims, but not militant, he said.US intelligence officials have said weapons funded by sympathisers in Saudi Arabia and Qatar are crossing the Lebanese border to the rebels. These are mostly small arms such as AK-47 automatic weapons plus some anti-tank guided munitions and rocket-propelled grenades.