TURKEY: The leader of Syria's Muslim Brotherhood pledges to provide all necessary support for the Free Syrian Army, including arms and ammunition

Record ID: 281048

  • Title: TURKEY: The leader of Syria's Muslim Brotherhood pledges to provide all necessary support for the Free Syrian Army, including arms and ammunition
  • Date: 17th July 2012
  • Summary: ISTANBUL, TURKEY (JULY 17, 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF LEADER OF SYRIAN BRANCH OF MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD, RIAD AL-SHAQFA, TALKING TO PEOPLE IN HALLWAY (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) LEADER OF SYRIAN MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD, RIAD AL-SHAQFA, SAYING: "Our support for the Free Syrian Army will be in the form of offering all the necessary facilities, financial and relief efforts and even arms and
  • Embargoed: 1st August 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: Conflict,International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA584PCR8HK9BJZTCE7JURM6NT9
  • Story Text: Syria's Muslim Brotherhood pledged to deliver weapons to the Free Syrian Army (FSA) as well as other relief and financial support on Tuesday (July 17).

    "Our support for the Free Syrian Army will be in the form of offering all the necessary facilities, financial and relief efforts and even arms and ammunition," said Riad al-Shaqfa, the leader of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood.
    Syrian opposition and the FSA have urged western powers and Arab countries to arm Syrian rebels who are fighting against the regime.
    Earlier in March 2012, the Syrian National Council had established a coordination bureau to channel weapons to the FSA but it was never declared where the bureau is located or which governments provided the arms to rebels.
    Western and regional powers denied any suggestion they were involved in gun running.
    Their interest in the sensitive border region lies in screening to ensure powerful weapons such as surface to air missiles do not find their way to Islamists or other militants.
    Turkey, which hosts the FSA in the border area and is in the forefront of diplomatic efforts to unseat Assad, says it is not supplying the rebels with weapons, nor allowing passage of arms through its ports or across its territory. However, officials accept a small amount of weaponry is spirited across an almost 900 Km (550 mile) frontier hard to patrol and always prone to smuggling.
    The FSA, for its part, would like more powerful arms to attack government armour and defend or extend territory it has, in a change of tactics, begun to seize in recent weeks.
    Asked about the ongoing clashes in Damascus, Shaqfa said President Bashar al-Assad is in his last days in power.

    "(United Nations peace envoy Kofi) Annan's plan failed, it's over and we no longer pay any attention to it. Bashar will not leave except by force and the Syrian people are determined to do this. We believe his days in power are now numbered," he said.
    Clashes in Damascus between rebels and state forces raged for a third day on Tuesday (July 17), in the fiercest fighting to hit Syria's seat of power since the revolt against Assad began 17 months ago.
    What began as a protest movement in Syria, inspired by demonstrations in other Arab countries, has become an armed insurgency fighting against Assad's crackdown. The International Committee for the Red Cross now classifies the conflict as a civil war.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register