Syria’s top rebel commander will visit the U.S. next week to request expedited arms shipments, Reuters reports Thursday.
Susan Cornwell and Louis Charbonneau write that Syrian Supreme Military Council General Salim Idriss will visit the New York operations of the United Nations.
Mariam Jalabi, UN Security Council diplomat and Syrian National Coalition member, said the reports are correct.
However, Elizabeth O’Bagy, Syrian Emergency Task Force advocacy group political director, said the reports are still unconfirmed and details of the trip are still being worked out.
O’Bagy said that if Idriss meets with the UN in New York, he will “talk a lot about conditions on the ground inside Syria, which are very critical.”
Reuters reports that U.S. plans, announced by the White House in June, to send firearms to aid Syrian rebels against President Bashar al-Assad have been delayed by Congress.
Idriss is a former Syrian Army general and was chosen to lead the umbrella group that runs the Free Syrian Army rebel group.
