SYRIA: Free Syrian Army fighters criticise U.S. inaction during the country's 20-month revolt, giving mixed reactions to newly re-elected President Barack Obama's victory

Record ID: 281573

  • Title: SYRIA: Free Syrian Army fighters criticise U.S. inaction during the country's 20-month revolt, giving mixed reactions to newly re-elected President Barack Obama's victory
  • Date: 7th November 2012
  • Summary: BAB AL HAWA, IDLIB, SYRIA (NOVEMBER 7, 2012) (AMATEUR VIDEO OBTAINED BY REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) THI KAR DIVISION COMMANDER FOR FREE SYRIAN ARMY, ABED ALBASET AL-TAWEEL, SAYING: "We want to congratulate Obama and the American people on the end of the U.S. elections. Obama's position in the last term was weak concerning the situation in Syria, concerning financial or
  • Embargoed: 22nd November 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Syrian Arab Republic
  • Country: Syria
  • Topics: Conflict,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA6ZVMF7K6ILPHFGXXH96GHZ4JM
  • Story Text: Members of the Free Syrian Army on Thursday (November 7) said they had little interest in Barack Obama's victory re-election for a second term as U.S. president, as violence escalates across Syria in a revolt against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
    Rebel fighters in Idlib province's Bab al-Hawa region said they were disappointed by the U.S. and parts of the Arab world that had failed to offer 'armed support' to Syrian opposition fighters.
    Thi Kar Division Commander Abed Albaset Al-Taweel congratulated Obama on his win but called for a tougher U.S. approach with President Bashar al-Assad.

    "We want to congratulate Obama and the American people on the end of the U.S. elections. Obama's position in the last term was weak concerning the situation in Syria, concerning financial or non financial aids or even weapons. We hope that in his next term he has a more developed position towards the opposition and the resistance in Syria, in its divisions at the Free Syrian Army and the other divisions."
    Other members of the Free Syrian Army were more critical of Obama's government.

    "We do not care if Obama won or not, or if another person won," said Colonel Mithqal Albtaysh, a member of the General Command Of Military Councils For Free Syrian Army.

    "The Syrian people have been disappointed by the whole world, including some of our brothers in the Arab and Islamic world. We first rely on our God, and secondly on ourselves. We are steadfast until our last martyr falls," Albtaysh added.
    Deputy Brigade Commander of al-Mo'atsem Division, Colonel Abed al-Lateef, echoed similar sentiments of dissatisfaction.

    "It does not interest us whether Obama or somebody else won when it comes to the American elections, because it does not make a difference to us," said al-Lateef.

    "The second year of our great revolution is almost at an end inside Syria. Nobody gave us any aid or any weapons or anything. We only depend on our revolutionaries inside Syria who, during the last two years, operated in good fighting operations."
    Having defeated Republican Mitt Romney at home, Barack Obama has no shortage of adversaries to grapple with abroad, including the governments of Iran, Syria and possibly China.
    The Democratic president's re-election ensures continuity in U.S. foreign policy but leaves open questions, including whether Obama will be able to sustain his refusal so far to try to tip the scales in Syria's civil war by allowing U.S. arms to flow to the rebels seeking to oust Assad.
    ENDS
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