Secularist Syrian rebel forces pressed by Turkey to yield to Islamists

Special to WorldTribune.com

WASHINGTON — The Syrian opposition continues to be divided between the rebel army and Islamists supported by Qatar.

fghadry2 — A Syrian soldier, who defected to join the Free Syrian Army, hold up his rifle during a protest against Syrian President Bashar Assad in the Damascus suburb Saqba, on Jan. 27. / Reuters

Opposition sources said the Free Syrian Army and the Syrian National Council have failed in efforts to cooperate. They said the secular-oriented rebel army and the Islamist group reflected conflicting interests and ambitions, particularly over the issue of military intervention.

“Today, the SNC has taken the steps of holding the real leadership of the FSA hostage,” Farid Ghadry, president of the Reform Party of Syria, said.

Ghadry, who supports the secular opposition to the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, detailed the power struggle between FSA and SNC. He said FSA was forced to sign an agreement with the Muslim Brotherhood-aligned SNC by Turkey and Qatar.

In December, Turkey blocked FSA bank accounts when the rebel army sought to form a coalition with non-SNC groups.

“The [second] agreement in essence took control of the FSA,” Ghadry said on Jan. 19. “The FSA leadership had no choice but to sign it to unblock its bank accounts in Turkey.”

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Secularist Syrian rebel forces pressed by Turkey to yield to Islamists added by World Tribune on January 29, 2012
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