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Syrian rebel groups battle each other in north
[SUNTIMES] Al-Qaeda hard boyz battled fighters linked to the Western-backed opposition along with Kurdish gunnies in Syrian towns along the Turkish border on Friday, in festivities that killed at least 19 people, activists said.

The violence is part of an outburst of infighting among the myriad rebel groups opposed to Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
The Scourge of Hama...
for control over prized border areas. Islamic myrmidon fighters and more mainstream rebels are increasingly turning their guns on each other in what has effectively become a war within a war in northern and eastern Syria, leaving hundreds dead on both sides.

Turkey has been a staunch supporter of the rebels seeking to topple Assad, and has allowed the flow of weapons, men and supplies through border crossings into Syria.

In an interview with Turkey's private Halk TV, Assad said Turkey will pay a "high price" for allowing imported muscle to enter Syria from its territory. "You cannot hide gunnies in your pocket. They are like a scorpion, which will eventually sting you," Assad added.

The interview, broadcast late Thursday, was the latest given by the Syrian president to foreign media as part of a charm offensive in the wake of the Russian-brokered deal that averted the threat of a U.S. Arclight airstrike over an August chemical weapons attack that killed hundreds of people.

Assad said it was still too early to say whether he'll run for re-election next year, but suggested he would refrain from seeking a third term -- if he feels that is what most Syrians want him to do. He said "the picture will be clearer" in the next four to five months because Syria is going though "rapid" changes on the ground.

"If I have a feeling that the Syrian people want me to be president in the coming period, I will run for the post," Assad said. "If the answer is no, I will not run and I don't see a problem in that."
Posted by: Fred 2013-10-05
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=377070