Thousands of Arab, Libyan Fighters Join Syrian Armed Groups

  Local Editor

Rebels in Syria are from various Arab nationals.

According to Reuters, veteran Libyan fighters of last year's crisis have come to the front-line in Syria, helping to train and organize rebels under conditions far more dire than those in the battle against Moammar Gadhafi.

Hussam Najjar hails from Dublin, has a Libyan father and Irish mother and goes by the name of Sam. A trained sniper, he was part of the rebel unit that stormed Gadhafi's compound in Tripoli a year ago, led by Mahdi al-Harati, a powerful militia chief from Libya's western mountains.

Harati now leads a unit in Syria, made up mainly of Syrians but also including some foreign fighters, including 20 senior members of his own Libyan rebel unit. He asked Najjar to join him from Dublin a few months ago, Najjar said.

The Libyans fighters and those aiding the Syrian rebels include specialists in communications, logistics, humanitarian issues and heavy weapons, he said. They operate training bases, teaching fitness and battlefield tactics.

Najjar said he was surprised to find how poorly disorganized the Syrian rebels were.

"In the months since he arrived, the rebel arsenal had become five times more powerful," he said. "Fighters had obtained large caliber anti-aircraft guns and sniper rifles."

"Although many rebel units fight under the banner of the "Free Syrian Army", their commands are localized and poorly coordinated," Najjar said.

"One of the biggest factors delaying the "revolution" is the lack of unity among the rebels," he said. "Unfortunately, it is only when their back is up against the wall that they start to realize they should (unite)."

Najjar said "thousands more Sunni fighters from the Arab world were gathering in neighboring countries prepared to join the cause."

The so-called "Umma" Brigade's Facebook page shows a picture of Najjar aiming his rifle in what looks like an open field. In another he is posing with Harati and rebels. A YouTube video shows Harati leading an attack on a checkpoint in Maarat al-Numan in Syria.

Najjar claimed that "militancy would spread across the region as long as the West does not do more to hasten the downfall of al-Assad."

"The Western governments are bringing this upon themselves. The longer they leave this door open for this torture and this massacre to carry on, the more young men will drop what they have in this life and search for the afterlife," Najjar said.

Source: Reuters, Edited by moqawama.org

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