Alleged Defection to Al-Qaida of U.S.-Trained Syrian Rebel

A group of U.S.-trained rebels who recently returned to Syria have lost contact with one of their officers and are investigating reports that he defected and handed over his weapons to al-Qaida’s branch in the country, the Guardian reports.

The allegations on Wednesday come only days after a group of about 70 fighters returned to Syria after training in Turkey, part of the U.S. program to train and equip rebels to participate in the fight against the Islamic State group.

If confirmed, defection among the ranks of U.S.-trained rebels would be an embarrassment to the program, which has already been criticized as too little too late.

The first batch of 54 U.S.-trained rebels was wiped out by Al-Qaida’s affiliate in Syria, Jabhat al-Nusra, shortly after crossing over the border from Turkey last July. Several members were killed, while most either fled or were kidnapped.

Putin Plans Airstrikes in Syria if No U.S. Deal Reached

Russian president Vladimir Putin is preparing for unilateral air strikes against Islamic State positions in Syria if the U.S. rejects his proposal to join forces, Bloomberg reports.

Putin’s preferred course of action is reportedly for the U.S. government and its allies to agree to coordinate their military campaign against Islamic State militants with Russia, Iran and the Syrian army, an approach that would be accompanied by a “parallel track” of political transition away from standing Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, a key U.S. demand.

But one source reportedly told Bloomberg that Putin was frustrated with U.S. reticence to respond and was ready to act unilaterally in Syria if necessary.

Obama and Putin to Meet as Tensions Rise Over Syria

President Obama has decided to meet with Russian president Vladimir Putin in New York next week, if it can be arranged, for their first fact-to-face encounter in nearly a year as tension rises over the civil war in Syria, American officials told the New York Times on Wednesday.

Mr. Obama, who has resisted meeting Mr. Putin amid deep division over Russia’s intervention in Ukraine last year, concluded that a meeting now might be useful to reinforce the message that the Kremlin should uphold a cease-fire along its border, and at the same time, press for a diplomatic solution in Syria.

Russia had indicated for weeks that it wanted a meeting with U.S. officials, but advisers to Mr. Obama debated whether it was worth engaging with Russia given its rising involvement in the Middle East. Some expressed concerns that such a meeting would play into Mr. Putin’s hands and reward, in their eyes, an international bully.

Recommended Reads

• Foreign Policy: The Saints and Smugglers of Syria’s Civil War
• Agence France-Presse: At a Damascus Market, Divided Syria Comes Together Again
• The Daily Beast: Russian Soldiers: Don’t Send Me to Syria
• The Washington Post: Migrants Are Disguising Themselves as Syrians to Enter Europe
• Politico: U.S. Perplexed by Putin’s Syria Ploy