Special to WorldTribune.com

ANKARA — The Free Syrian Army has expressed caution over plans by the
Muslim Brotherhood to establish a military wing to overthrow President
Bashar Assad.

Several rebel FSA leaders said they would not cooperate with the new
military office established by the Brotherhood-aligned Syrian National
Council.

SNC said the military office would coordinate arms shipments and
provide trainers for the rebels.

“We want action not words,” the rebel Homs Revolutionary Council said.

In a statement on March 1, the council, which participated in the battle against the Assad regime for control of the Sunni city, said the rebel group does not share SNC’s goals. The council said it would continue with its strategy to “bring down the regime and free Syria from the ruling gang.”

“We will not coordinate with [SNC chairman] Burhan Ghalioun in the affairs of the military office and its principles,” the council said.

Earlier, Ghalioun said the military council had been endorsed by all Syrian rebels. He said the council would determine as well as finance the military requirements of rebel groups.

“We will be like a defense ministry,” Ghalioun said.

[On March 5, a Lebanese newspaper reported that the Assad regime has
captured 13 French Army soldiers. The Beirut-based Daily Star said France
was secretly arranging for the release of its soldiers in what was described
as a deal with Damascus.]

In a statement issued in Paris, SNC said it would direct
weapons and supplies to FSA as well as other rebel groups.

But, the rebel FSA expressed caution regarding the new
military office.

“I don’t know about the objectives of this body,” FSA commander Col.
Riad Assad said.

Assad was said to have been the target of a kidnapping plot by the
Syrian regime. Opposition sources said Turkey foiled a plot to abduct the
FSA commander as well as other Syrian rebel officers.

“This is not the first attempt of its kind,” FSA Col. Khalid Al Hamoud
told the Saudi-owned A-Sharq Al Awsat daily. “We previously caught an FSA
soldier in secret communication with Syrian intelligence. We handed him over
to the Turkish authorities who questioned him and then returned him to
Syria.”

  Bashar Assad, Burhan Ghalioun, Col. Khalid Al Hamoud, Col. Riad Assad, Free Syrian Army, Free Syrian Army rebels wary of taking arms from Muslim Brotherhood group, French Army soldiers captured, Homs Revolutionary Council