Syrian rebels seek control over oilfields

Syria’s top rebel commander is seeking western backing to create a military unit to take control of oilfields controlled by al-Qaeda-linked extremists and other rebels, as lucrative natural resources captured from the regime stoke tension between rival factions.

EU foreign ministers on Monday lifted an oil embargo against Syria to allow rebels to sell crude to fund their operations.

But the move comes amid signs of growing tension within the opposition over control of captured oilfields and other strategic assets.

At the end of 2012, rebels seized oilfields in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor and this year they advanced into resource-rich Hasaka and Raqqa, putting opponents of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in control of much of the country’s oil and a substantial portion of its agriculture.

According to activists, however, many of those oilfields are now under the control of Jabhat al-Nusrah, the al-Qaeda-linked rebel group.

General Selim Idriss, the western-backed head of the Supreme Military Council, told the Financial Times he wanted to assemble a 30,000-strong force of military defectors to secure oilfields, grain silos and cotton stocks, as well as crossing points on the Turkish and Iraqi borders.

“When we have a well-armed battalion and you send it to oilfields, others will see that this is a central force protecting national resources and not a specific group taking over to sell oil,” the general told the Financial Times in an interview.

Speaking at a gathering of western and Arab foreign ministers’ in Istanbul, Gen Idriss said he needed $35m-$40m a month to pay $100 monthly salaries to fighters who have signed up to the supreme command – funds that he lacks.

“Fighters go to where there is money and weapons and if I had the means ... within one or two months everyone would join,”

Though most of the myriad rebel groups operating on the ground are technically affiliated with Gen Idriss, in practice they operate more or less autonomously. Observers say rent and resources have been a factor in recent clashes behind opposition lines.

Both Gen Idriss and a local activist cited such competition as a reason for recent clashes between al-Nasra and the Farouq Brigades, one of the larger rebel groups which controls a strategic area on the border between Raqqa and Turkey.

Syria is not one of the region’s major oil producers, with an output of 380,000 barrels per day before the eruption of the revolt in 2011, and it is not clear how much of its crude rebels would be able to extract, let alone refine. But for battalions engaged in a protracted struggle every contribution helps.

Fighting linked to oil has been reported in Deir Ezzor. Opposition activists say it started with the theft of a truck carrying diesel. According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, subsequent fighting between Jabhat al-Nusrah and local tribesmen killed 37 people.

“We don’t like to see these problems,” said Gen Idriss. “We will do anything we can to stop such fighting.”

When asked whether or not his new force would end up in a confrontation with powerful groups in control of the oilfields, such as Jabhat al-Nusrah, he said he hoped “not to have a battle”.

The rebel plan emerged as the EU lifted its embargo on Syrian oil exports in the hope of providing greater sustenance to opposition groups.

The decision was intended to ease the embargo for areas under rebel control, allowing for the sale of oil as well as the import of production equipment.

The EU imposed its embargo nearly two years ago, depriving Mr Assad’s regime of roughly €3bn in annual export sales to the 27-member bloc.

Guido Westerwelle, the German foreign minister, told reporters before Monday’s meeting that a partial lifting of the embargo would give greater economic support to the rebels and help to convince Syrians of their viability. “We wish for good economic development in the areas controlled by the opposition, therefore we lift the sanctions that hinder the moderate opposition forces’ work,” he said.

William Hague, the UK foreign secretary, said the security situation would make it difficult to export oil but that it was “important for us to send the signal that we are open to helping in other ways”.