52ndStreet
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- Jun 18, 2008
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Alquieda in Syria has obtained shoulder launched stinger misseles. And made a video mocking the U.S. and the west for not giving them arms.
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The warning from French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius reflects growing concern over the rising power of Islamic militant groups that have joined the rebels fighting to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime. "Let us be clear. In the face of the collapse of a state and society, it is the extremist groups that risk gaining ground if we do not act as we should," Fabius told envoys from more than 50 nations gathered in Paris. "Chaos is not tomorrow, it is today, and we need to end it. We need to end it in a peaceful way and that means increased and concrete support to the Syrian National Coalition," an umbrella group for the opposition. Islamic militants have been the most organized fighters battling government troops in the 22-month-old conflict in which more than 60,000 people have been killed.
Their growing prominence has fueled fears that Muslim radicals might try to hijack the revolt, and has contributed to the West's hesitance to equip the opposition with sophisticated weapons. The opposition coalition was formed in November, largely in response to a call by the West for the fragmented Syrian opposition to unite. More than 100 countries have backed the umbrella group, decreeing it the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people. France was the first to confer that recognition. The coalition replaced an early opposition grouping of exiled Syrians, whose credibility was compromised by infighting and criticism that they were out of touch with the Syrians fighting the Assad regime. But members of the Syrian opposition lament that beyond the verbal recognition, very little aid has trickled in since the group was formed.
More than $100 million was promised at the Friends of Syria group's conference in December in Marrakech, Morocco, but it's unclear how much has been sent. France, which has spearheaded the formation of a viable opposition in exile, wants to make sure that backing that has been promised actually materializes. "We have to give the Syrian people a clear signal: We are at your side," Fabius said. "If we don't give the means to the Syrian people to go achieve their freedom, there is a risk, and we all know it exists, that massacres and antagonisms amplify, and that extremism and terrorism prevail." The most dominant of the extremist groups is Jabhat al-Nusra. The U.S. has declared it a terrorist organization, claiming it has ties to al-Qaida. The group claimed responsibility Monday for a suicide car bombing that reportedly killed dozens of Assad's loyalists last week.
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