FSA Commander: "Yes, there are non-Syrian fighters among our ranks!"

Via FLC

"...After repeated questioning, an FSA commander in the Hama countryside stated: "Yes, there are non-Syrian fighters among our ranks in the Al-Nusra Front, as well as in the Free Syria brigade. However, these non-Syrians represent a small percentage of fighters in these brigades, less than 20% of the former and 5% of the latter." 

Fighters in the rural areas surrounding Aleppo did not want to talk about these people, merely saying that now was the time to fight against the regime....
... there were a number of fighters standing outside of his office who told us that they were Libyans, and also noted that their brigade consisted of some Jordanians and Saudis. Hasan Abdel Rizak, a military commander from Tarb—a town in the Aleppo countryside—refused to speak about Islamist militant units, preferring to speak about Syrian fighters.... 

Rumors have spread among normal citizens claiming that individuals within these groups are trying to lead the revolution and exploit the war. Local residents say that the groups' audacity in taking control of the border crossing was merely a show of strength. The Free Syria brigade would have preferred that the border crossing be taken from the Turkish side, to facilitate the entrance of journalists. On the other hand, the Farouk brigade would rather have maintained their position on the Syrian side, allowing them to protect it from likely attacks by the regime army aimed at regaining control of the crossing. 

Islamists are certainly a minority among the Syrian fighters, however they are the most organized and thus the most likely to be covered by media outlets. For example, when the electricity is cut, only the Islamists have satellite browsers to connect to the Internet. Furthermore, while visiting various Islamist installments, we noticed that they were in possession of gas canisters, a commodity that has been hard to come by in Aleppo and Idlib since the Syrian regime stopped sending gas the these regions. 

Islamists are also the only ones who receive regular salaries for fighting in these rebel units....This disparity in resources between Islamists and non-Islamists has led to sensitivities and conflicts between different militant groups. Abu Zayd, an official in the Free Syria brigade, responded to a question posed by Al-Hayat as to whether or not Islamist groups received more money in comparison to other militant groups. He stated: "Everyone is receiving [foreign] support, however we [Islamists] receive all of the aid that is sent to us, while the aid sent to the other groups stops in Istanbul and never reaches Syria."..."

Posted by G, M, Z, or B at 12:27 PM

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