Syria opposition chiefs seek French military aid

Syrian opposition chief Ahmed Jarba is welcomed by Elisabeth Guigou, head of the French foreign affairs committee, before the hearing yesterday. AFP/ParisSyria’s opposition leader and the rebels’ military chief said yesterday they would ask France for various forms of assistance including military aid to back up the forces fighting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. “This is one of the goals of our visit among other issues,” new opposition chief Ahmed Jarba told reporters after meeting members of the French parliament’s foreign affairs committee at the start of a two-day trip. “Obviously we will ask France for total political support, diplomatic support, humanitarian emergency aid, and military and other aid,” said Jarba. Free Syrian Army chief General Selim Idriss added that the opposition was “working with our European and American friends to obtain technical, medical and humanitarian assistance and, we hope, also weapons and ammunition” as the rebels did “not have enough” weapons. Jarba, accompanied by Idriss and other opposition leaders, was to meet President Francois Hollande today. It was Jarba’s first visit to France since he was elected head of the main opposition Syrian National Coalition (SNC) on July 6. He said Hollande’s invitation was proof of France’s interest in Syria’s fate. After France, Jarba was to head to New York for meetings at the UN. Britain said the 15-nation UN Security Council, including Russia and China, would hold its first meeting with the SNC leadership on Friday. The UN has been told of 13 alleged chemical weapons attacks in Syria, a top UN official said ahead of talks between UN experts and the Syrian government. The two experts arrived in Beirut yesterday and were expected to travel to Damascus today. Robert Serry, the UN envoy on the Middle East peace process, told the Security Council that UN leader Ban Ki-moon remains “gravely concerned” about reports of the use of chemical arms in the 28-month-old conflict. French officials said talks with the opposition were also being planned in London and Berlin. A French diplomat said Idriss was expected to press rebel demands for Western arms, including anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles. The rebellion’s Western backers have been sceptical of supplying weapons to the opposition, amid fears they could fall into the hands of radical Islamists. “The priority for the Coalition is to be able to obtain arms for the Free Army, not only because Bashar al-Assad’s regime is receiving enormous amounts of weapons from Russia and Iran and has retaken the initiative on several fronts, but also because there is a need to strengthen the Free Army in the face of jihadist groups,” said Ziad Majed, a professor at the American University of Paris. But the diplomatic source said Paris would insist on the “political perspective” of resolving Syria’s civil war. “First of all they are coming to meet the president to explain who they are, what is their strategy, what they want to do with the Coalition, what they want to do with Syria but also with the opposition,” the source said. Jarba, who is part of a faction of veteran secular dissidents, has criticised some rebels’ links with Islamist groups. The diplomatic source said the delegation would be looking to show that “they represent an alternative that respects civil and democratic rights”.