Kuwait leading funder of militants in Syria

Kuwait is the leading source of funds for al-Qaeda-linked terrorists fighting against President Bashar al-Assad's government in Syria, media reports said. The amount of money that has flowed from Kuwaiti individuals and through organized charities to Syrian rebel groups such as the Al-Nusra Front totals in the hundreds of millions of dollars, The Washington Post quoted Obama administration officials as saying. In this unregulated stew, fundraising for Syrian rebel groups has become a source of competition among Kuwaiti religious and business leaders, as well as a funnel for contributions from private citizens in other Persian Gulf states with more stringent rules. Until recently, tiny, oil-rich Kuwait avoided public scrutiny as attention to terrorist financing focused more sharply on Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Also in the past 24 hour, units of the Syrian armed forced seized full control over the mills area located between al-Sheikh Zyad and al-Ta’aneh on al-Sheikh Najjar road in Aleppo. FNA dispatches from the region said earlier today that the army is rearranging its formations from defensive to offensive in Al-Ramouseh and Jamiet Al-Zahra districts in Aleppo city. Meantime, the army made advances in Al-Sheikh Najjar region in Aleppo Industrial City. The army units attacked the militants in the same area and held captive scores of Al-Nusra Front militants in there. The arrested militants have also confessed that they received a monthly salary of 18,000 Syrian lira to fight against the Syrian army. The Al-Nusra terrorists have gathered in Aleppo Industrial City to plunder the factories located in these regions or take ransom money from factory-owners in the same area. Meantime, Director of the Lebanese General Security Major General Abbas Ibrahim stressed that the recent operations carried out by the Syrian Army in Qalamon district sealed around 90% of the porous border with Lebanon and brought calm to the country. In an interview with Reuters News Agency, Ibrahim said that the security situation is the obsession of the whole world but Lebanon is affected by the situation in Syria and what happened recently in Lebanon is the result of the crisis in Syria. The Syrian Arab Army restored security and stability to al-Qalamon villages near the borders with Lebanon and discovered several hideouts and places for priming car bombs. In the past months, several areas in Lebanon were the target of terrorist car bombs that led to killing dozens of people and injuring others. Elsewhere, units of the Syrian army destroyed militants' hideouts in a number of neighborhoods in Daraa and its towns and destroyed their weapons and ammunition. A military source said that an army unit targeted militants' dens in Daraa l-Balad and destroyed a weapons cache belonging to the militants. The source added that another unit confronted a militant group that tried to infiltrate into a military point in al-Hirak in Daraa countryside and destroyed a number of the militants' vehicles in Jassem and Inkhel towns. Elsewhere, Syrian army units thwarted several attempts by militant groups to infiltrate and attack a number of military posts in the countryside of Qamishli city in Hasaka province, a military source said. The source affirmed that many of the groups’ members were killed or injured, the state news agency reported. The source said that other army units targeted militants’ gatherings in the areas of Abo Steih, al-Tawarij, Abo Qasayeb and Khrab Askar in the countryside, leaving many of the militants dead and wounded. Also, the Syrian army was rearranging its formations in Aleppo countryside in preparation for a fresh wave of attacks on militant ruled areas two weeks after it conquered vital positions and repelled militants' continued, but decreasing attacks. FNA dispatches from the region said on Saturday that the army was rearranging its formations from defensive to offensive in Al-Ramouseh and Jamiet Al-Zahra districts in Aleppo city. Meantime, the army made advances in Al-Sheikh Najjar region in Aleppo Industrial City. The army units attacked the militants in the same area and held captive scores of Al-Nusra Front militants in there. The arrested militants have also confessed that they received a monthly salary of 18,000 Syrian lira to fight against the Syrian army. The Al-Nusra terrorists have gathered in Aleppo Industrial City to plunder the factories located in these regions or take ransom money from factory-owners in the same area. Meantime, the Syrian army made major advances in a strategic region in Damascus countryside. The army units pushed back the militants from Jobar town in Reef (outskirts of) Damascus and destroyed their positions in the region. Meantime, the Syrian army destroyed the gathering centers of the militants in the two cities of Douma and Harasta as well as the mountains in the Western parts of Al-Zobdani town in Damascus countryside. Also, a senior Kurdish lawmaker in the Syrian parliament ruled out the idea of federalism in Syria, and said that his compatriots will strongly accompany the army in defending their country against the terrorists. "The Kurds do not intend to see Syria become a federal state and their resolve to defend the country can be seen very readily in the Syrian Kurds Popular support record," Kurdish MP Omar al-Oussi told FNA. He noted that the Syrian government is now in control over many Kurdish regions such as Qameshli and Hasaka. "I have called on the Kurdish parties that have joined the Syrian opposition coalition to take part in national reconciliation talks," Al-Oussi told the very few Kurdish parties that joined the opposition at the start of the unrests in Syria three years ago. "The Kurdish parties' joining the Syrian opposition coalition was a historic mistake," he added. Meantime, a senior Turkish lawmaker disclosed that the foreign-backed militants fighting against the Syrian government in Syria are receiving heavy arms via Turkey under the supervision of the Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT). "The terrorists who attacked the city of Kassab (near the Turkish border) in Lattakia  (in Northern Syria) have used Turkish soil to smuggle heavy weapons to Syria and this measure has taken place under the supervision of Turkey's National Intelligence Organization (MIT)," Turkish opposition MP Refiq Eryilmaz told the Syrian state news agency. He underlined that supporters of terrorism in Syria should claim responsibility for their crimes in Syria. Ankara has on several occasions sent arms to Syrian militants to help them fight against the Damascus government. ?