U.S. Pins Hopes on Syrian Rebels with Loyalties ‘All Over the Map’
The New York Times reports that President Obama’s intent to train rebels “to serve as ground troops against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) leaves the United States dependent on a diverse group driven by infighting, with no shared leadership and with hard-line Islamists as its most effective fighters.”
More than three years into the conflict, hundreds of militias are fighting the Syrian government – and each other. Among them, the paper writes, “even the more secular forces have turned to Islamists for support and weapons over the years, and the remaining moderate rebels often fight alongside extremists.”
“You are not going to find this neat, clean, secular rebel group that respects human rights and that is waiting and ready, because they don’t exist,” Aron Lund, a Syria analyst who edits the Syria in Crisis blog for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told the paper. “It is a very dirty war and you have to deal with what is on offer.”
Meanwhile, Reuters reports that on Thursday, Russia said airstrikes against ISIS militants in Syria without a U.N. Security Council mandate “would be an act of aggression, raising the possibility of a new confrontation with the West in coming weeks.”
“The U.S. president has spoken directly about the possibility of strikes by the U.S. armed forces against ISIL positions in Syria without the consent of the legitimate government,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said. “This step, in the absence of a U.N. Security Council decision, would be an act of aggression, a gross violation of international law.”
Jabhat al-Nusra Releases Peacekeepers in Golan Heights
Reuters reports that dozens of U.N. peacekeepers have arrived on the Israeli-held side of the Golan Heights after being released by militants from Jabhat al-Nusra.
“U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed their release and, according to a spokesman, demanded that all parties in the area respect the U.N. force’s ‘mandate, freedom of movement and the safety and security of its personnel.’ Nusra initially said it held the peacekeepers because they were aiding soldiers loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. Later, sources close to Nusra said it demanded the removal of the group from the West’s terrorist list.”
Lebanon to Open First Syrian Refugee Camps
AFP reports that Lebanon, which has no official camps for Syrian refugees, will establish two such camps along its northern border.
“The move comes despite long-standing reservations among many in Lebanon over establishing such camps, for fear they will encourage Syrians to stay in the country or threaten its security,” the wire says. “There are already more than 1.1 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon, which has a population of just 4 million people. Many are already living in informal tented settlements on farmland or empty fields in parts of the country.”