(Reuters) - The United States and Britain suspended non-lethal
aid to northern Syria after Islamist fighters seized Western-
backed rebel weapons warehouses, highlighting fears that
supplies could end up in the wrong hands.
The rebel Free Syrian Army fighting President Bashar al-Assad
said the U.S. and British moves were rushed and mistaken. "We
hope our friends will rethink and wait for a few days when
things will be clearer," FSA spokesman Louay Meqdad said.
In Washington, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the
United States was concerned about reports that Islamic Front
forces had seized the buildings belonging to the Syrian Military
Council, which is nominally in charge of the FSA.
"As a result of the situation ... the United States has suspended
all further deliveries of non-lethal assistance into northern
Syria," Earnest said, adding that humanitarian aid was not
affected by the move.
The suspension underlines a crisis for the FSA leadership,
which needs international backing to reinforce its credibility
and to stop its fighters joining al Qaeda-backed Islamist
militants who now dominate the war with Assad.
Fighters from the Islamic Front, which groups six major rebel
brigades and which said last week it had quit the FSA, seized
the headquarters of the Syrian Military Council and weapons
warehouses at the Bab al-Hawa crossing on Syria's
northwestern border with Turkey.
A U.S. official said FSA leader General Salim Idriss had fled into Turkey during the takeover
of the warehouses, which contained trucks, food, medical packs and communication
equipment including laptops and radios.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based anti-Assad monitoring group,
said the Islamic Front had seized anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons from the SMC arms
stores in fighting on Saturday.
The Islamic Front's battlefield success in capturing the stores could undermine SMC
assurances to the United States that no supplies sent to their fighters would fall into the
hands of Islamist brigades.
A U.S. embassy spokesman in Ankara said the situation was being investigated "to
inventory the status of U.S. equipment and supplies provided to the SMC". Deliveries into
southern Syria, through Jordan, would not be affected, he said.
Five rebel fighters were killed in the clashes at Bab al-Hawa, but it was not clear which side
they were on.
REBELS PLAY DOWN INFIGHTING
American aid, including trucks, ambulances and ready meals, reaches Syria overland
through Turkey.
U.S. officials said in the summer that they had developed a system of distribution using
SMC operatives that would ensure the aid reached U.S.-allied groups. The United States has
been concerned the non-lethal aid should not reach Islamists.
A senior U.S. administration official said the suspension should not be misinterpreted.
"This is absolutely not the beginning of the U.S. washing its hands. We will remain engaged
in the humanitarian effort. We will remain engaged in the diplomatic effort," the official
said, adding: "This doesn't represent a change in policy in our support for the moderate
opposition."
He said the administration was looking for other ways to see how the support can be
provided to ensure it does not fall into the hands of "extremists".
The British wanted the situation clarified after the clashes. "We have no plans to deliver
any equipment while the situation remains so unclear. We will keep this under close
review," a spokesman from the British embassy in Ankara said.
Turkey shut its side of the border crossing in Hatay province, customs sources told
Reuters, citing a reported increase in clashes on the Syrian side. There was no immediate
confirmation from Turkish officials.
Wednesday's announcement does not affect humanitarian support because this is
distributed through aid groups and the United Nations. The first U.N. relief airlift to Syria
from neighbouring Iraq will deliver food and winter supplies to the mostly Kurdish
northeast over the next 10 days.
The 2-3/4 year conflict has killed more than 100,000 people, driven more than 2 million
abroad as refugees and left many millions more dependent on aid.
Playing down the fighting between the Islamic Front and the FSA brigades as a
"misunderstanding", the FSA's Meqdad said Idriss was talking to the front's leaders to try
to resolve the confrontation.
Asked whether any FSA stock was missing Meqdad said: "Everything will be clear in the
next hours, and we believe the Syrians are good people and we don't believe there was a
problem. They are our brothers."
Infighting among Syrian rebels has weakened their efforts to bring down Assad in a conflict
that began with peaceful protests against his rule in March 2011 and has descended into
civil war.
"EXTREMISTS" THREATEN REBEL UNITY
"I ... want to underline that our support to the opposition remains undiminished," the
British embassy spokesman said.
"We have been long-standing and strong supporters of General Idriss and the SMC. That
remains the case. It is important that the SMC remains united in the face of attacks from
the regime and from extremist groups.
"Otherwise this will be a setback for all Syrians who support a political solution and a
democratic, pluralist future for their country."
Assad's army, backed by Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group and Iraqi Shi'ite fighters, has
made steady gains around Damascus and to the north of the capital, while rebel territory in
the north has seen increasing cases of inter-rebel conflict.
Many activists who helped to organise protests against Assad have now fled abroad from
rebel-held territory, fearing not Assad's security forces but hard-line Islamists they say are
equally intolerant of dissent.
Prominent human rights lawyer Razan Zaitouneh was kidnapped in the rebel town of
Douma, activists said on Tuesday. They said it was not clear who had seized the 36-year-old
activist, who has documented human rights violations in Syria.
The family of two Spanish journalists said on Tuesday they have been held since September
by fighters linked to al Qaeda.
Fifty-five journalists have been killed and 30 are still missing in Syria, according to the New
York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, making the country the most dangerous place
in the world for media workers.
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