U.S. arms could create Syria 'warlords', rebel commander says

(Reuters) - U.S. arms supplies to Syrian rebels may create Somali-style warlords and are undermining Washington's allies in the rebels' exile military command, the former Syrian army general who leads it said.

Brigadier General Abdelilah al-Bashir, who defected in 2012 and led rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) forces in the Golan before becoming chief-of-staff of the FSA's Supreme Military Council in February, told Reuters that Washington was bypassing the SMC in sending weapons directly to groups that were hard to control.

"The Americans are leading the distribution of weapons on the northern front and in the southern front. We demand that we be responsible," Bashir, 56, said in an interview in Istanbul.

"Providing support to individual battalions could turn the commanders of these battalions into warlords and they will be difficult to control in future," he added.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/09/us-syria-crisis-opposition-idUSKBN0EK1EH20140609