A fighter from Jabhat al-Nusra poses at a checkpoint in Aleppo
London: Saudi Arabia is preparing to spend millions of dollars to arm and train thousands of Syrian fighters in a new national rebel force to help defeat Bashar Al Assad and act as a counterweight to increasingly powerful jihadi organisations.
Syrian, Arab and Western sources say the intensifying Saudi effort is focused on Jaysh Al Islam (the Army of Islam), created in September by 43 Syrian groups. It is billed as a significant new player on the fragmented rebel scene.
It excludes Al Qaeda affiliates such as the Islamic State in Iraq and Al Sham and Jabhat Al Nusra, but embraces more non-jihadi Islamist and Salafi units.
According to a report, JAI will be trained with Pakistani help, and may have from 5,000 to 50,000 members. But experts warned yesterday there were doubts about its prospects and fears of “blowback” by extremists returning from Syria. Saudi is pressing the US to drop objections to supplying anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles to JAI. Jordan is being urged to allow its territory to be used as a supply route into Syria.
The Guardian
