Syrian rebels move toword unfied command

Syrian rebels move toward unified command Syrian rebels across the country are moving toward a unified command, the latest step in a consolidation by the opposition as it seeks to garner stronger international support. Under a preliminary agreement reached Friday by the disparateFree Syrian Army units,each Syrian province will have a civilian rebelcouncil leader and a military council leader. The commanders will beunder the leadership ofa newly named chief of staff, Gen. Salim Idris, Free Syrian Army spokesman Louay Almokdad said. All members of the new leadership team are Syrian and mostly are from inside Syria, he said. It is premature to call the new group the Supreme Military Council, but the agreement is a step toward forming the higher military council, Almokdad said. The united military frontfollows the creation of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, a new coalition of groups opposed to the leadership of President Bashar al-Assad. The United States, in particular, had been pushing for the opposition to unite. The American calls for unity came amid concerns about the increasing radicalizationof some armed factions of the opposition. The stronger the radical groups become, the more the United States worries that the fighting-- not political efforts to find a solution -- willdecide the outcome in Syria. Efforts are under way for the United States to formally recognize the newly formed Syrian political opposition coalition as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people, which France and Britain havealready done. Early next week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will travelto Marrakesh, Morocco,for a meeting of the Friends of the Syrian People, a gathering of countries that support the political transition. The Obama administration, while providing non-lethal assistance, is expectedto take the first steps toward officially recognizing the NationalCoalition at that meeting. The Free Syrian Army hopes for the same support now that it attempts to unify. A new defense minister for the Syrian opposition coalition is expected to be named later this month, Almokdad said. On Saturday, fighting was reported in Lattakia, on the northern coast, near al-Assad's hometown ofQardaha. The opposition Local Coordination Committeessaid late Friday that"regime forces (had) closed all entrances to the capital" amid clashes. Syria's government maintains control of Damascus, while the rebels have taken large parts of northern Syria, including parts of the most populous city, Aleppo. Concern about chemical weapons Britain's foreign secretary on Saturday cited evidence that the Syrian regime could useits stockpile of chemical weapons against rebelsbattling government forces. William Hague said that there was no simple"red line" which could trigger international military action, but that Britain and its allies had"contingency plans concerning chemical weapons" which he declined to disclose. Recent U.S. intelligence suggests the Syrian government has started mixing chemical weapons compounds and loading them into bombs, though the bombs are not being moved to any delivery devices, CNN's BarbaraStarr reported. The concern is not onlythat the Syrian regime may use chemical weapons, but that they could fall into the handsof terrorist groups. The Syrian foreign ministry on Saturday reiterated its position that it will not use chemical weapons, if it possesses any, under any circumstances, the state news agency SANA reported. In two letters addressed to the U.N. Security Council and theU.S. Secretary-General, the ministry warned that "terrorist groups might resort to using chemical weapons against the Syrian people... after the terrorist groups recently took hold of a chlorine processing plant to the east of Aleppo city," according to SANA. "Syria is defending its people against terrorism supported by known countries, aboveall (the) USA," the ministry wrote. Another view on weapons Fears of chemical weapons use by the Syrian government are"hysterical hype," former U.S. National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski said Saturday. Speaking with CNN's Randi Kaye, Brzezinski said it does not make sense that the Syrian regime would employ such weapons when doing so would in effectpoison its own people. The fighting in Syria is not along traditional fronts, but sporadic outbreaks of fighting, making chemical weapons is not very effective, he said. "It's more like a guerrilla warfare. How do you use chemical weapons against that," he said. The real challenge, Brzezinski said, is creating a stable situation in Syria so theconflict does not spill into Jordan, Lebanon orIraq.