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The Syrian opposition late on Thursday sacked the military command of the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) over allegations of corruption, several hours after US President Barack Obama asked US lawmakers for $500 million in aid for moderate rebels.
In his statement, opposition chief Ahmad Tohme said that the opposition had “decided to disband the Supreme Military Council and refer its members to the government’s financial and administration committee for investigation”. The decision comes amid widespread reports of graft within the FSA, which has been backed by Arab and Western governments in its battle to President Bashar Assad’s regime.
The opposition also said that it was sacking Brigadier General Abdelilah al-Bashir, the FSA chief of staff. It also called on “revolutionary forces on the ground” to set up a new defense council within a month and fully restructure the FSA’s command.
Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama’s request for $500 million to equip and train “moderate Syrian opposition” coincides with burgeoning unrest in neighboring country Iraq, were militants spearheaded by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) are sweeping through the country. ISIL, which wants to create an Islamic state across Syria and Iraq, has captured large swathes of territory to the west and north of Baghdad.
ISIL on Thursday increased its presence in Syrian town Albu Kamal, which shares an international border with Iraq, only a day after the al-Nusra Front, the al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, pledged loyalty to ISIL in the town, giving it control on both sides of the border. ISIL and other militants in Syria are better financed and better armed that the FSA, which has for a while been pleading for more support from global leaders.
Since the conflict in Syria began three years ago, the US has been providing “non-lethal” aid to moderate rebels seeking to depose Assad. However, National Security Advisor Susan Rice had, earlier in the month, acknowledged that the Pentagon was delivering “lethal” support as well.