The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia says its set to supply thousands of tones of heavy artillery to Syrian rebels after the opposition “Free Syrian Army (FSA)’’ appointed a new Military Commander at the weekend.
Diplomatic sources say Riyadh has agreed to provide more than 3,000 tones of heavy arms to the FSA following a decision by the group’s governing body, the Supreme Military Command, to replace the forces’ overall Commander Selim Idriss.
Saudi Arabia had reportedly suspended its military aid to the FSA in November to protest the way that Idriss had distributed arms from Western countries and Arab Gulf states.
Riyadh accused the former rebel leader of favouring certain commanders and brigades at the expense of the group’s military success, according to Brig.-Gen. Zaher Saket, a former command member close to the proceedings.
A reported chronic shortage of munitions and light arms in most of the FSA brigades, in spite of a near-constant arms flow from Saudi Arabia and Qatar over Idriss’s one-and-a-half-year tenure, led to suspicions of corruption, Saudi diplomats said.
“Idriss was identified as someone we could not work with and we made the strategic decision to suspend all support to the Free Syrian Army until it changed its leadership,” Saudi Arabia’s diplomatic liaison to the FSA said.
“Now we can resume arms supplies in full and as fast as possible,” said the official, who did not wish to be named.
Saudi Arabia has reportedly thrown its “full support” behind incoming military council Chief, Brig.-Gen. Abdullah Bashir, who has vowed to overhaul the FSA’s weapons distribution.
The decision to remove Idriss came amid mounting military losses across northern and central Syria.
FSA leaders say the command had moved to change its leadership as the Syrian revolution faced increasingly “difficult circumstances”.
According to FSA and Saudi sources, the Saudi weapons are to include shoulder rocket launchers, surface-to-air missiles and tank piercing mortars.
The western and Gulf nations have previously been reluctant to provide to rebel forces with such heavy arms, but the FSA has said they are necessary to make military gains.
