General Salim Idris on Monday accused British Prime Minister David Cameron of betrayal after the premier abandoned plans to arm the Syrian opposition, The Telegraph newspaper reported.

Idris said the decision would “leave FSA alone to be killed” by the government forces, which got upper hand in fighting against terrorist groups.

The FSA commander also claimed that the move will pave the way for al-Qaeda to dominate the militant ranks.

David Cameron has made the decision after British military chiefs warned him that the recent successes of the Syrian government forces against the terrorists means sending them small arms and missiles would be unlikely to make a difference in favor of the militants.

Cameron earlier told his Conservative party members that they are possibly not arming the Syrian militants because there is little prospect of winning a vote on arming militants in the Commons.

The move is a major U-turn on Syria as Cameron, along with French President Francois Hollande, led the lobby within the European Union two months ago to lift an arms embargo on the militants.

Based on the report, British forces will now turn to training and advising the foreign-backed militants rather than directly arming them.

The conflict in Syria started in March 2011, when pro-reform protests turned into a massive insurgency following the intervention of Western and regional states.

The unrest, which took in terrorist groups from across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, has transpired as one of the bloodiest conflicts in recent history.

As the foreign-backed insurgency in Syria continues without an end in sight, the US government has boosted its political and military support to Takfiri extremists.

Washington has remained indifferent about warnings by Russia and other world powers about the consequences of arming militant groups.

NTJ/BA/