Israel hand Syrian Opposition Groups Display Wide Rifts in Doha Meeting

TEHRAN (FNA)- Divisions and power disputes arose among the foreign-backed Syrian opposition groups who met in Qatar’s capital, Doha, a meeting which has left little or no chance for the formation of a new council comprising representatives of all groups.

The main opposition group, the Istanbul-based Syrian National Council, was incensed by a Washington-backed plan to seek to remove it from a leading role, giving way to the armed rebels who are inside Syria and fighting against the Syrian army, Russia Today reported.

The US and its allies were sponsors of the conference which pursued to create a so-called government-in-exile.

Last week, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged a new structure of the Syrian opposition’s leadership and slammed the so-called Syrian National Council as ineffective and unrepresentative.

“This cannot be an opposition represented by people who have many good attributes but have in many instances not been inside Syria for 20, 30 or 40 years,” Clinton told reporters.

The new body is set to include fewer Syrian exiles and more representatives of the so-called Free Syrian Army, as well as local political groups and councils.

The four-day meeting in Doha wraps up on Thursday.

The Syrian opposition is composed of a variety of armed rebel groups, some of which have been infiltrated by radical elements linked to al-Qaeda terrorist group.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has stressed that efforts to stop violence in Syria have been less affective due to various international powers solely dealing with and encouraging Syria’s opposition forces.

The US daily, Washington Post, reported in May that the Syrian rebels and terrorist groups battling the President Bashar al-Assad’s government have received significantly more and better weapons in recent weeks, a crime paid for by the Persian Gulf Arab states and coordinated by the United States.

The newspaper, quoting opposition activists and US and foreign officials, reported that Obama administration officials emphasized the administration has expanded contacts with opposition military forces to provide the Persian Gulf nations with assessments of rebel credibility and command-and-control infrastructure.

According to the report, material is being stockpiled in Damascus, in Idlib near the Turkish border and in Zabadani on the Lebanese border.

Opposition activists who several months ago said the rebels were running out of ammunition said in May that the flow of weapons – most bought on the black market in neighboring countries or from elements of the Syrian military in the past – has significantly increased after a decision by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Persian Gulf states to provide millions of dollars in funding each month.