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8 Feb, 2012 19:44

Syrian opposition getting 'daily shipments' of arms

With recent reports of fierce fighting in Homs, many wonder where the opposition is getting so many arms from. No wonder, argues Professor Ibrahim Alloush, as “weaponry is being smuggled into Syria in large quantities from all over the place.”

“It is pretty clear that the rebels have been receiving arms from abroad and Syrian television has been showing almost daily shipments of arms being smuggled into Syria via Lebanon, Turkey and other border crossings,”

the professor from Zaytouneh University in Jordan said.

“Since the rebels are being supported by the GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] and by NATO it is safe to assume that they are getting their financing and weaponry from the same sources that are offering them political cover and financial backing,” he explained.

This help, however, has nothing to do with the struggle for democracy or reforms in the country, Alloush says.

“What we are dealing with here is an armed rebellion that does not express the will of the Syrian people.”

On the contrary, he thinks that the eventual goal of those who smuggle arms into the country is to install “a puppet regime in Damascus that will obey the dictates from Washington and NATO.”

A freelance journalist, talking to RT live from Syria on the latest developments in Homs, spoke about the opposition using the latest government attack to win support and weapons from the West.

“The Free Syria Army is trying to take this chance to push external forces such as the United States to provide them with more arms,” she said to RT.

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