Special to WorldTribune.com

NICOSIA — Sunni rebels, restricted by Arab sponsors, have run low on
ammunition amid the offensive by the regime of Syrian President Bashar
Assad.

Rebel sources said their leading supporters — Qatar and Saudi Arabia —
have withheld supplies of ammunition and other military equipment in 2013. They
said the two Gulf Cooperation Council states began to reduce aid to the
rebels in late November 2012 amid U.S. pressure to stop helping militias
aligned with Al Qaida.

“The main problem is that we are no longer receiving the weapons we need because everything comes from the Gulfies with the approval of the
Americans,” a source said.

The sources said the rebel command, including the Free Syrian Army, was losing control over militias throughout Syria. They said that without a steady flow of ammunition, each militia was finding its own sponsors and focusing on fundraising rather than combat.

“The whole revolt has turned completely cynical,” the source said. “With
the exception of some of the Salafist militias, almost everybody is looking for money and trying to take credit for things they didn’t do. There is no cooperation or coordination.”

In December 2012, FSA established a military command supported by the United States and its allies. But the new FSA military command, elected by 550 delegates, did not receive significant military aid.

Britain and France, amid reports that Iran accelerated military
deliveries to the Assad regime, have pressed the European Union to send
weapons to Syrian rebels. On March 14, French Foreign Minister Laurent
Fabius said London and Paris could move without EU support.

“It [France] is a sovereign nation,” Fabius said. “We must move
quickly.”

The sources said FSA and other units have resorted to abductions to
raise funds. They said the only militias to receive a steady supply
of cash were those linked to Al Qaida, while others were offered non-lethal
equipment, such as body armor.

“We need weapons and ammunition, not flak jackets,” Ahmed Al Kanatry,
commander of the Omar Al Mukhtar battalion told the Saudi-owned A-Sharq Al
Awsat. “I can give you a flak jacket to take back to Britain.”

  Al Qaida-aligned militias, Bashar Assad, focus on fundraising, Free Syrian Army, Laurent Fabius, Splintered Syrian rebels are low on ammo