(NEW YORK) MintPress — British Foreign Secretary William Hague says his country will not consider providing backing for Syrian rebels, despite indications that the United States could do so. Hague said the UK will only continue to supply non-lethal assistance to “peaceful opposition” outside Syria.
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta had said on Wednesday that the United States was looking at offering non-lethal aid such as radio equipment to help opposition forces in their fight against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
That has raised several questions about whether — and if so, to what extent — the U.S. is already taking part in the violence inside Syria.
The battle for Baba Amr
Arab news agency Al-Manar, which is affiliated with the Lebanon-based militant group and political party Hezbollah, reports on its website that according to “well informed sources,” around 700 Arab and Western gunmen surrendered in the besieged neighborhood of Baba Amr.
Syria is the main conduit for weapons and funds flowing from ally Iran to Hezbollah.
The agency says it was told by the sources that ‘huge and critical surprises will be uncovered in the coming few days… such as the kinds of arms seized, as well as the military tactics the armed groups followed, and the sides that supervised the operations.’
It also claims that “Syrian expert in strategic affairs Salim Harba” told the agency that ‘the captured gunmen held Arab nationalities, including Gulf, Iraqi and Lebanese…among them were also… non-Arab fighters from Afghanistan, Turkey and some European countries like France.’
Widespread foreign involvement?
Harba also said, reports Al-Manar, that there is an opposition coordination office staffed by foreign agents in nearby Qatar. The agency quotes Harba as saying the office was established ‘under American-Gulf sponsorship. The office includes American, French and Gulf — specifically from Qatar and Saudi Arabia— intelligence agents as well as CIA, Mossad, and Blackwater agents and members of the Syrian National Council.’
‘Qatar has also made deals with Israeli and American companies to arm the armed groups, and Gulf countries have been financing the agreements.’ Al-Manar did not say how or where Harba got his information.
According to the Syrian state news agency SANA, Assad insists he will continue to confront “foreign-backed terrorism.” Since the uprising began last March, he has blamed arm gangs and foreign terrorists for the unrest, not protesters seeking change.
Western powers meanwhile have categorically denied any military involvement in the Syrian
conflict.
Strong U.S. hand in Syria
There is concrete evidence, however, of past American support for Syria’s opposition. WikiLeaks cables released in April, 2011 show that the US had been funneling the opposition money for several years. That aid continued going into the hands of the Syrian government opposition even after the U.S. began its re-engagement with Syria under President Barack Obama in 2009, The Washington Post reported at the time.
In January, 2011, Washington posted its first ambassador to Damascus since the Bush Administration recalled its ambassador in 2005 over concerns about Syria’s involvement in the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafic Hariri. Last month, as the government crackdown intensified, the U.S. shut its embassy in Syria.
The Post reported that much of the money – as much as $6 million – was funneled through a group of Syrian exiles in London known as the Movement for Justice and Development. The group is connected to a London-based opposition satellite television station, Barada TV , that is broadcast in Syria and expanded its coverage to include the mass protests after they began nearly a year ago.
The Post wasn’t able to confirm how long the funding lasted, but cables at the time indicated the financing was planned at least through September 2010.
Authenticity of new WikiLeaks documents questioned
More recently, WikiLeaks has been releasing information since February that it claims it obtained from hacked e mails of officials at leading U.S. private intelligence agency Stratfor.
One of those e-mails, apparently written by the company’s director of analysis for internal use, details a confidential Pentagon meeting in December, which was allegedly attended by senior analysts from the US Air Force as well as representatives France and the UK.
The author of the letter claims that US officials “said without saying that SOF [special operation forces] teams are already on the ground, focused on recce [reconnaissance] missions and training opposition forces.”
Stratfor for its part has dismissed the leak, calling it “a deplorable, unfortunate – and illegal – breach of privacy.” It added, “Some of the emails may be forged or altered to include inaccuracies; some may be authentic. We will not validate either.”
Washington’s dilemma
The White House does have some serious concerns about Assad. The Syrian leader, who has a staunch ally in Moscow, has agreed to a major expansion of the Russian naval base in Tarsus. Damascus has also refused to allow the building of an oil pipeline from Iraq through Syria to the Mediterranean.
At the same time, there are fears among American officials that should Assad fall, the resulting power vacuum could give both Iran and radical Salafi Muslim elements in Saudi Arabia the ability to strengthen their influence in Syria.
“The violent overthrow of the Assad regime has unknowable consequences for that region and neighboring countries,” noted Britain’s Hague. “Similarly, the successful violent repression of opposition by Assad’s regime leaves a totally unsustainable situation and also is a threat to peace and stability in that region.”