West, Arab regimes close to arming Syrian rebels

At their latest gathering in Amman in Jordan, the nations known as the Friends of Syria accused Russia and Iran of supplying the regime of the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad with modern arms. The actual situation, however, is very different. It is Assad’s Western and Arab foes who rush support, including arms, to one of the sides in the civil war in Syria. 

According to Le Figaro, some 800 Jihadists from the EU have already joined the Syrian rebel group Jabhat al-Nusra, which is a known affiliate of Al Qaeda. Hundreds came from Kosovo, about 100, from the UK, up to 80, from Belgium and dozens from other EU countries including Denmark, Ireland and Germany.

Undeterred by blood-curdling pictures of cannibalism on the rebel side and forgetful of human rights of which it is a great champion in other instances, the EU is also expected to consider proposals to lift its embargo on arms supplies to Syria at a meeting of its foreign ministers scheduled for next Monday.

We have an opinion from the Algerian journalist and Middle East affairs analyst Nabila Ramdani:

"Syria is a Sunni-Shia faultline, with its Shia community drawing support from Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, and its Sunni community, mostly from Saudi Arabia. The Saudis are after Sunni domination across the Muslim world. The West has apparently weighed in on their side. Its propaganda feverishly demonizes both Iran and Hezbollah."

Professor Mohammed Morandi of the University of Teheran expounds on the matter:

As matters stand now, Saudi and Qatari money buy arms which reaches the Syrian rebels by way of Lebanon, Jordan, and first and foremost, Turkey.

At their meeting on May 27, the EU foreign ministers will also look into how their countries should tackle the homeward influx of Jihadists with an experience of the war in Syria. Prosecuting these gents will be difficult, because it’s their archfoe Assad who is the West’s bad guy in Syria. His regime, meanwhile, relies on broad popular support and is showing no sign of being on its way out.

Voice of Russia