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By David Enders
Weeks
before the Obama administration and other Western nations recognized a
new Syrian opposition coalition as “the legitimate representative” of
the Syrian people, Syrian rebels were receiving training in the use of
light and heavy weapons with the backing of the Jordanian, British and
U.S. governments, participants in the training have told McClatchy.
The
training took place as far back as October and involved hundreds of
rebels, the participants said. In one case, the rebel participant said
men he believed were American intelligence officers observed what was
taking place. Another said he believed British officers were helping to
organize the training. The training itself was handled by Jordanian
military officers, the rebels said.
“We hoped there
would be more training on larger weapons,” said Kamal al Zoubani, a
fighter from the southern Syrian city of Daraa, which often is referred
to as the birthplace of the uprising against President Bashar Assad,
which began nearly 22 months ago. “But we were allowed to take light
weapons back to Syria with us.”
By November, another rebel said, the training had expanded to anti-tank weapons and Stinger anti-aircraft missiles.
American
officials, citing concerns that they didn’t know the political leanings
of anti-Assad groups, have said repeatedly that they aren’t providing
weapons to the rebels, leaving that to countries such as Qatar and Saudi
Arabia.
But there’s been little discussion of what
role the United States might be playing in training rebel fighters,
whose offensives against loyalist Assad forces have been gaining
traction in recent months.
This week, the Obama
administration recognized the Syrian National Coalition for Opposition
and Revolutionary Forces as the likely successor to the Assad regime and
urged countries to funnel aid through it for the rebels. In tandem with
that decision, the administration labeled a key rebel group, the Nusra
Front, whose fighters have been at the front lines of many recent rebel
victories, an offshoot of al Qaida in Iraq in hopes that Qatar and Saudi
Arabia would stop assisting it.
Zoubani said the rebel
military council in Daraa, a group associated with the secular Free
Syrian Army, had selected him to receive the training and that at least
three groups of 50 to 60 fighters were trained at a military base in
southern Jordan in October. He said he didn’t know why he’d been chosen
as opposed to other rebels, only that leaders from the military council
had contacted him and told him he’d receive the training.
He
said uniformed Jordanian military officers were present at the
training, as well as people he believed to be American intelligence
officers.
The second fighter, who spoke only on the
condition of anonymity because he was uncertain whether he was
authorized to reveal details, said the training had progressed by
November to include anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons and that the
office of Sheikh Mouaz al Khatib, the Syrian cleric who heads the Syrian
National Coalition for Opposition and Revolutionary Forces, had
selected fighters for the training. Khatib assumed his position Nov. 11,
when the group was formed during meetings in Doha, Qatar.
The
fighter said that more than 60 others had trained with him in an
eight-day course at a military base near Amman. He said uniformed
British and Jordanian military officers were present.
“They trained us to use LAU and Cobra anti-tank rockets and Stinger (anti-aircraft) missiles,” the fighter said.
The
fighter said rebels also were trained to use anti-aircraft guns, which
have been employed in past months to bring down Syrian government
aircraft. The rebels have managed to buy and capture increasing numbers
of anti-aircraft guns and have captured anti-aircraft missiles from
Syrian government stocks. In November, video posted to YouTube appeared
to confirm the first successful use of anti-aircraft rockets against
government aircraft. Rebels claimed that the weapons used in that
incident came from captured stocks.
Jordan, which has become home to more than 100,000 Syrian refugees since the conflict began, has taken pains to appear neutral.
On
Wednesday, Jordanian officials seemed to be supportive of the
anti-Assad rebellion as they helped dozens of Syrians living in a
refugee camp here to sneak back into Syria. Still, rebels said the
Jordanian government, which maintains tight control of its border,
continued to prevent heavy weapons from being smuggled into Syria.
The
revelations of training in Jordan come as the rebels have made a series
of military advances against the Assad regime and signs point to an
increasingly beleaguered government. U.S. intelligence officials claimed
this week that the Syrian military had fired SCUD missiles for the
first time in the conflict, a development that may signal that the
military is running low on more traditional weaponry
Also,
a Russian Foreign Ministry official acknowledged that a rebel victory
is possible. The country has been a staunch supporter of Assad.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/12/14/177474/syrian-rebels-say-americans-britons.html