Special to WorldTribune.com

NICOSIA — The Western-backed rebel coalition, accusing him of incompetence, has fired its military commander.

The Supreme Military Council (SMC) of the Free Syrian Army has dismissed commander Gen. Salim Idriss.

SMC, backed by Arab and NATO states, said Idriss, who defected from the Syrian military, would be replaced by FSA operations chief Col. Abdul Lilal Al Bashir.

“This was due to the ineffectiveness of the command over the past few months,” SMC said.

In a statement on Feb. 16, SMC confirmed rising criticism against Idriss. The council, formed in 2012, said Idriss failed to provide leadership “for military operations against the criminal regime and its allies from terrorist organizations.”

The dismissal, decided during a meeting in Turkey, came in wake of the
elimination of FSA in northern Syria.

Opposition sources said FSA, including Idriss, was driven out of its last strongholds along the Syrian border with Turkey in late 2013 by Al Qaida’s Islamic State of Iraq and Levant. Most of the FSA weapons and facilities were said to have been taken by the Saudi-sponsored Islamic Front.

Idriss was said to have lacked the operational experience sought by
Sunni rebels. His last post in the Syrian Army was in the non-combat Corps
of Engineers, and during his tenure he was hardly seen in Syria. The sources
said the rebel defense minister of the Syrian opposition, Mustafa Awad, had
insisted on Idriss’ resignation.

Al Bashir also served in the Syrian Army until he defected in 2012. In
FSA, Al Bashir, whose son was killed in battle in 2014, had been responsible
for rebel forces in the southern Syrian province of Quneitra, near the
border with Israel.

The statement said SMC would also restructure its General Staff. One
appointment was that of Col. Haitham Obeisa as deputy chief of staff of the
FSA.

“In the interest of the Syrian revolution and because of the difficult
conditions, it was decided to restructure the General Staff,” the statement
said.

  Col. Abdul Lilal Al Bashir, Gen. Salim Idriss, Islamic Front, NATO-backed Syrian rebels fire military commander after major reverses