Special to WorldTribune.com

CAIRO — Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, ousted from power by the
military, has intensified its participation in the Sunni revolt in Syria.

Islamist sources said the Brotherhood has been recruiting what could
result in thousands of new fighters to battle the regime of Syrian President
Bashar Assad.

The sources said the Brotherhood was receiving funds from Saudi Arabia to bolster the embattled rebel movement amid the offensive by the Assad regime.

“There are literally tens of thousands of trained Brotherhood fighters who might prefer to receive handsome salaries to fight Assad in Syria rather
than the military in Egypt,” a source said.

Under the year-long regime of Egypt’s first Islamist president, Mohammed Morsi, most of the Brotherhood fighters stayed home in expectation of jobs in the government and security forces. But after Morsi was overthrown on July 3, many fighters traveled to the Sinai Peninsula and other locations for insurgency operations that included Al Qaida-aligned forces.

The Brotherhood already has been coordinating with units in Hama,
regarded as the main stronghold of the Islamist movement. The sources said
Hama was used to store weapons and equipment allocated to an
expected rebel offensive later in 2013.

The sources said Brotherhood fighters were being recruited to join
the Free Syrian Army. They said a Saudi priority was to bolster FSA amid the
domination of the rebel war by Al Qaida-aligned militias, including Al Nusra
Front for the Defense of the Levant and the Islamic State of Iraq and
Levant.

An opposition figure, Mulham Droubi, said the Brotherhood established
units in Syria in May 2013. Droubi, a member of the Syrian National Council,
said he welcomed Brotherhood recruitment and operations against Assad.

“The formation of a military organization is on the agenda,” Droubi
said. “But this group will not clash with the jihadists who are fighting
the Syrian regime.”

  Al Nusra Front, Bashar Assad, funded by Saudis, Hama, Mulham Droubi, Muslim Brotherhood, Muslim Brotherhood switches its focus from Egypt to Syria, recruits fighters to aid Syrian rebels