US meeting with al-Qaeda-linked Syria militants possible: Kerry

US Secretary of State John Kerry has announced that a meeting between American officials and al-Qaeda-linked “Islamic Front” fighting against the Syrian government is possible.

“The United States has not met yet to date with the Islamic Front. There has not been a discussion,” Kerry told reporters during his visit to the Philippines on Tuesday.

“It’s possible that it could take place,” he added.

US officials are reportedly set to meet with commanders of the militant group in Turkey.

The Saudi-backed Islamic Front seized control of weapons stores belonging to the so-called Free Syrian Army near a Turkish border crossing over a week ago.

The Islamic Front was created by the unification of at least six extremist Salafist groups last month.

“There is no alternative other than continued fighting, continued destruction, continued growth in the refugee population, continued potential disintegration of a whole country and the continued increase of the numbers of radical extremists who are appearing on the scene to fill the void,” Kerry said. “That is dangerous.”

Kerry made the comments after US State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said on Monday that US officials might enter talks with the Islamic Front.

A conference is scheduled for Jan. 22 in Geneva to discuss the unrest in Syria.

Clashes intensify among rival militant groups in Syria, while the US and some of its regional allies have been providing financial and military support to the militants.

In October, a French newspaper revealed that the United States is second in line to lead al-Qaeda forces in Syria after Saudi Arabia.

George Malbrunot, a journalist for French newspaper Le Figaro, investigated the ways in which arms are being delivered to the so-called Free Syrian Army by the Central Intelligence Agency and Jordan’s intelligence services.

The weapons used by the militants in Syria are initially purchased by Saudi Arabia from black markets in Ukraine and Bulgaria. The weapons, which include Israeli missiles, are then transferred to a number of cells on the outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus, the report said.