Special to WorldTribune.com

NICOSIA — Sunni rebels, denied sufficient supplies by the West, have been producing weapons in Syria.

Arab diplomatic sources said rebel militias have been manufacturing light weapons and munitions throughout Syria.

The sources said the production included that by the Western-backed Free Syrian Army.

“It is a very primitive industry, but it produces some weapons of value,” a diplomat said.

The sources said FSA was using existing workshops to manufacture a range of bombs and mines. They said one such production site was in the southern Syrian suburb of Ghouta.

The London-based A-Sharq Al Awsat daily said one workshop has been producing short-range rockets. They said the rockets were determined to have a lethal range of up to 250 meters, ideal for urban warfare operations.

“It has achieved impressive results, too,” the Saudi-owned daily said on Oct. 21.

The regime of President Bashar Assad has confirmed that rebels were
trying to produce weapons. Assad aides maintained that the rebels,
particularly those aligned with Al Qaida, were stockpiling precursors for
chemical weapons.

FSA, which on Oct. 21 lost a leading commander in a battle near the
Jordanian border, has complained of a shortage of supplies, particularly the
absence of anti-tank weapons. FSA commanders said the West, including the
United States, has blocked Arab efforts to send heavy weapons to the rebels.

  Bashar Assad, Free Syrian Army, Ghouta, Lacking weapons from the West, producing short-range rockets, Syrian rebels produce their own