Top commander of foreign-backed militants in Syria, Brigadier General Salim Idris (file Photo)
Foreign-backed militants fighting against the Syrian government will not attend an upcoming conference on the crisis unless they receive new supplies of arms, a top commander says.
On Friday, Brigadier General Salim Idris, a top military commander of the so-called Free Syrian Army (FSA), said in a telephone interview with the New York Times from his headquarters in northern Syria that the militants would not take part in the conference due to be held in Geneva in case they are not provided with new supplies of arms and ammunition.
Å“If we donâ„¢t receive ammunition and weapons to change the position on the ground, to change the balance on the ground, very frankly I can say we will not go to Geneva… There will be no Geneva,” Idris said.
Earlier this week, the Syrian army recaptured the strategic border town of al-Qusayr — an important center and supply route for the foreign-sponsored militants — after three weeks of fighting.
On Wednesday, UN-Arab League Special Envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi said the international conference to solve the crisis in Syria might be held in July.
The peace talks had originally been planned to be held in June.
Å“The goal of the conference will be to achieve a political solution to the conflict in Syria through a comprehensive agreement between the government of Syria and the Syrian oppositions,” Brahimi said a news conference after holding preparatory talks with delegations from the United Nations, US, and Russia in Geneva, adding that another preparatory meeting would be held on June 25.
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.
Damascus says the West and its regional allies, such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, are supporting the militants.
In an interview broadcast on Turkish television in April, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said that if the militants take power in Syria, they could destabilize the entire Middle East region for decades.
Å“If the unrest in Syria leads to the partitioning of the country, or if the terrorist forces take control… the situation will inevitably spill over into neighboring countries and create a domino effect throughout the Middle East and beyond,” he stated.
NT/AS
This article originally appeared on: Press TV