DAMASCUS, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Following Syrian army's sweeping victories in the strategic city of al-Qussair, the Syrian opposition and their patrons have been apparently exerting efforts to prevent from losing more strongholds and yield more gains in the upcoming negotiations in Geneva conference, local analysts said.
After recapturing al-Qussair in the Homs province last week, the Syrian army unleashed another offensives in other areas in Homs and the largest city of Aleppo in northern Syria. The Syrian opposition in exile then urged their western backers to support the rebels on ground with weapons to tweak the balance in the fight on ground.
REBELS ASK FOR WEAPONS
A commander of the rebels Free Syrian Army, named Salim Idris, has issued "a desperate plea for weapons from Western governments to prevent the fall of his forces in Aleppo, asking the Obama administration to arm rebels for the first time or risk the loss of another rebel stronghold just days after the regime's biggest victory," the Wall Street Journal cited U.S. and European officials as saying.
Washington responded swiftly as U.S. President Barak Obama agreed Thursday to render weapons to the rebels, under pretext of "Syria's army use of chemical weapons" in its battles against the rebels.
The White House on Thursday concluded in a statement that the Syrian government had used chemical weapons against rebels in a move that signaled deeper U.S. interference in the Syrian conflict.
Syria's Foreign Ministry said Friday that the U.S. report of Damascus forces' use of chemical weapons against rebel fighters is "full of lies."
Local observers slammed the U.S. chemical weapons' talks as aiming to secure a "pressure card" against the Damascus administration by threatening further foreign involvement.
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