Saudi Arabia to host training camps for 10000 Syrian fighters: expert

(Zaman Al Wasl)-  Saudi Arabia to host training camps for at least 10000 Syrian fighters in border city with Iraq and Jordan and 2 hours away from Syrian southern city of Daraa, expert says.

 The kingdom has agreed to host training camps for moderate Syrian rebels as part of President Barack Obama's broad strategy to combat Islamic State militants who have taken over parts of Syria and Iraq, U.S. officials said on Wednesday, according to Reuters.

 Hisham Melhem, Lebanese analyst, based in Washington, said the training will take place in the strategic Saudi city of Hafar al-Batin which has wide borders with Iraq and Jordan.

This step will strengthen rebel Free Syrian Army who controls most of southern regions in Syria, in time the radical group is controlling swathes of territory east and north Syria, analysts say.

According to Melhem, the objective of training moderate rebels is to fill the security and military vacuum in the southern region resulted by U.S. airstrikes.

U.S. officials said a critical component of the plan to train and equip the Syrian insurgents, who have received only modest American backing so far and have failed to coalesce into a potent fighting force, was the Saudis' willingness to allow use of their territory for the U.S. training effort, Reuters said.

"Now what we have is a commitment from the kingdom of Saudi Arabia ... to be a full partner with us in that effort, including by hosting that training program," a senior U.S. official told reporters in a conference call.

The Saudi decision came to light after Obama spoke by phone earlier in the day with Saudi King Abdullah.

Saudi Arabia, the main Arab Sunni power in the region, was dismayed last September when Obama backed off air strikes against Assad's forces over the use of chemical weapons, and had pressed Washington to do more to strengthen the poorly organized moderate Syrian rebels.

"Both leaders agreed that a stronger Syrian opposition is essential to confronting extremists like (Islamic State) as well as the Assad regime, which has lost all legitimacy," the White House said.

The Obama administration wants the Syrian rebels to play a role in the fight against the stronger Islamic State forces inside Syria. U.S. officials declined to specify where on Saudi territory the rebels would be trained.

Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, is unnerved by the rapid advance of Islamic State this year and fears it could radicalize some of its own citizens. Arab League foreign ministers agreed on Sunday to take all necessary measures to confront Islamic State. (With Reuters)