The CAMBODIA DAlLY .

RIDAY,JUNE 15,2012

INTERNATIONAL

:IA Helps Bolster Ties to Fighters in Syria With Logistics

By JAY SOLOMON
AND NOUR MALAs
THE WAll STREET JOURNAL

U.S. intelligence
peratives and diplomats have
tepped up their contacts with
.yrian rebels in part to help or
anize their burgeoning militny
perations against President Ba
har al-Assad's forces, according
) senior US. officials.
As part of the efforts, the CIA
nd U.S. State Department
Torking with Saudi Arabia,
Urkey, Qatar and other allies
re helping the opposition Free
yrian Army develop logistical
:JUtes for moving supplies into
yria and providing communica
ons training.
US. officials also are consider
19 sharing intelligence with the
SA to allow the rebels to evade
ro-Assad forces, which are
elieved to be getting intelligence,
rms and communications sup
ort from Russia and Iran, the ofli
ia1ssaid.
Details of the deepening US. in
olvement comes as many inter
ational and local observers say
yria's deadly I5-month conflict
as reached new lows. On
ITednesday, U.S. Secretary of
TASHINGTON -

State Hillary Clinton warned that

"the situation is spiraling toward
civil war."
The CIA's heightened role is
seen by some as a sign of growing
US. seriousness about the mil
itaJy effort against the Assad gov
ernment US. officials also think
that added pressure could force
the regime to agree to a cease-fire.
The US. in many ways is acting
in Syria through proxies, primari
ly Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the
United Arab Emirates, say US.
and Arab officials. Saudi Arabia is
particularly fixated on overthrow
ing Assad, said Arab officials,
viewing it as a way to settle scores
with an arch foe and weaken its
chief regional rival Iran.
Saudi Arabia and Qatar are pro
viding the funds for arms, Arab
officials and Syrian opposition lead
ers say. The administration of US.
President Barack Obama hasn't
agreed to arm the FSA, the US.
officials stressed. Clinton on
Wednesday denied charges by
Syria and others that the US. has
armed the rebels.
The US.' stepped-up links with
the FSA are also part of an effort to
gain a better understanding of the
rebels' capabilities and of the iden-

I.

ACLEDA Bank PIc . JS plannmg to develop a n ew offJCe extensIon to Its main headquar

ters located at 61 Preah Momvong Boulevard, Phnom Penh, and is seekmg nollce of
interest for pre- quatlhcatlon. The development wilJ consIst of the foUowmg main
elements 42.000m2 GFA includmg 4 leve ls of basement and a 20 storey tower to
lllternatlOnai standards.

Interested contractors should have expenence on pro]ec[s of a Similar size 8n;d nature
10 one of the fo llowmg speclahst areas :
General Works Contractor

Piltng Works (up to 1,200mm dJameter and + 40m depthl

Diaphragm Wall Works 1l000mm WIde and up to 25m depth I

Deep Basement Works

Mechanical & Electncal Works

Elevator Supply, Installation & Mamtenan ce
Cunam Wall & External Facade Works

Conrractors w ith the above expefilse a re mvited to submit a letter noting thelf mterest
in being considered lor selectlOn to Mr. Prom Visath, Executive Vice PreSIdent & Ch Ief

Legal Ollicer and Project Manager, at #61 Preah Momvong Boulevar d, Sang.at
Srah Chork. Khan Daun Penh, Phnom Penh by the 22nd of June 2012 ,
Letter of i.nterest shou ld include the followmg '

Notlllcauon of which package th e contractor w ishes to be considered

Compan y brochure
Con tact mformatlon of key contact personnel
Contractors notifying mte rest w ill subsequen tly be Issued With a formal
pre-qualifi cation document for completion.
Thereafter. only successfully pre-qualifjed contractors w ill be invited to tender
for the above packaged w orks, and ACLEDA Bank Pic shall not be responsIble
for any costs lIlcurred

in

th e partiCipation of the above process.

24-bour customerseniice

023 994 444/ 015 999 233

tities and allegiances of fighters

spread in disparate groups across
the country, the US. officials said.
The US. officials remain wary of
some rebels' suspected ties to
hard-line Islamists, including ele
ments of al-Qaida They ac1mowl
edge the FSA doesn't represent all
parts of the insurgency against the
Assad regime.
But the administration hopes
that their growing contacts will
result in a more-organized fight
ing force that will shed more-trou
blesome associations.
"Some of [this communication)
is dedicated to figuring out who
these people are by talking to
them," said a US. official briefed
on Syria 'We're not going to give
out weapons and comms to pe0
ple who can't figure out h ow their
chain of command works."
The US. operatives are draw
ing on their experience in llbya,
and are conveying the message
that the FSA needs to profession
alize its ranks and better organize
itself to receive further assistance,
the official said.
''Recognizing that the phenom
enon is not going to go away, we
want it to have a command and
control structure, and be respon
sive to civilian leadership at the
Joca1level," said a Western official
who has worked with the Syrian
oppositioIL
The US. has had diplomatic con
tacts with Syrian dissidents for
more than six months. The CIA
and State Department began step
ping up contacts with the FSA
around March, according to US.
officials and Syrian opposition
groups, due in part to the rising
concerns about the presence of
extremistgroups.
In April, Clinton said publicly that
the State Department would begin
providing communications equip
ment to the Syrian National Coun
cil, the umbrella group that brings
together Syria's main pol1:icaI oppo
sition. Privately, US. officials have
acknowledged that much of this
gearwill end up with the FSA.
The State Department and CIA
declined to comment
U S. defense officials and Syria
analysts believe the FSA has
grown into an in creasingly
sophisticated fighting force in
recent months, after getting rout
ed in the central Syrian city of
Horns in February.
The flow of ammunition has
increased to the FSA through
Syria's northern border with Tw-
key, they said. And the FS..A's in
ternal command structure ap

pears more organized and able to

communicate to a sprawling mix

of insurgen t groups operating
across the country.
The rebels have obtained in
creasingly lethal roadt>ide bombs
in recent months, as well as anti
tank rockets, say rebels and US.
officials.
This week, Syrian rebels began
to say publicly they are able to
intercept government military
communications. Rebel comman
ders also say new, secure com
munications between their ranks
have allowed them to organize
larger defections.
On Sunday, rebels said they
had b riefly overtaken an air
defense base that held advanced
surface.to-air missiles and anti-air
craft vehicles. The FSA's opera
tion to target the al-Ghanto mis
sile base north of Horns is out
lined in a series of videos posted
on YouTube said to have been
shot by rebels.
In the videos, commanders
describe the orchestrated defec
tion of soldiers and officers at the
base, as well the swift regime
attack that followed. It appeared
to leave the area around the base
on fire and destroy the arsenal of
weapons and ammunition, said
rebel officers involved in the
alleged OperatiOIL
In one video, an officer says the
missile base was completely
destroyed in bombing by govern
ment helicopters after rebels there
seized some weapons and a.nunu
nitiOf1~ It isn't clear what weaponry
they may have made away with,
but the r e ported incident illus
trates a growing bolcL'Iess among
rebel fighters in attemptLTJg larger
scale operations.
"In the past two months, the
rebels have shown renew ed
vigor.... They are pressLTJg the re
gime on a lot of areas," said Jeffrey
White, a former Defense Intelli
gence Agency analyst, now at the
Washington Institute for Near
East PoliCY. 'The FSA is stretch
ing the regime's capabilities."
U.S. and Arab officials believe
Assad is mcreasingly losh'lg con
trol ofllie Syrian countryside, even
though h e maintains power in
cities like D amascus, Aleppo and
Latakia. On Wednesday, the gov
ernment said it regained control of
Haffa, a r e bellious city perched
atop the m ountainous Latakia
coaSt, a government stronghold.
Assad is also seen losing }1js
ability to control supply routes
connecti.'1g his forces to northern
Syria and the coast