General Salim Idriss told Washington Post newspaper that “his forces had just received a new shipment of 35 tons of weapons from Saudi Arabia.”
Speaking via telephone from Jordan, he said that “these weapons will help, but they aren’t advanced enough to combat Assad’s tanks and planes in Qusayr.”
Idriss claimed that he would not attend the planned Geneva talks unless the United States and its allies establish “military balance” by giving him modern anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons.
According to one militant source, Idriss has privately asked the United States for 700 tons of ammunition each week over the next month to help strengthen the militants’ hand and provide leverage before Geneva.
The Syria crisis began in March 2011, and many people, including large numbers of soldiers and security personnel, have been killed in the violence.
The Syrian government says that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the militants are foreign nationals.