Leaders of Syria’s pro-government tribes rejected on Friday Jordanian King Abdullah’s offer of support against Daesh and al-Nusra, accusing the kingdom of backing “terrorists,” AFP reported.
Earlier last week Jordan’s King Abdullah II pledged to support the tribes in areas of Syria and Iraq where the extremists are operating.
"It is our duty as a nation to support the tribes in eastern Syria and western Iraq," the king was quoted as say during a meeting with tribal leaders, AFP reported.
While the pledge for support was well-received by some of Iraq’s tribal leaders, it received a considerably colder welcome by those in Syria, where it is believed that Jordan is supporting rebels in a bid to overthrow the Assad regime.
“The Syrian tribes firmly and definitively reject any call or project to deprive them of their national, Syrian, Arab essence,” said Sheikh Mohamed Fares Al-Abd Al-Rahman of the Tay tribe, AFP quoted him as saying.
He added the king “is well aware of who is behind the terrorists and where their operations rooms and military training camps are located, where their funding and weapons come from, and how they enter our country from Jordan.”
The government in Damascus makes no distinction between Western and Arab-backed rebels and Daesh fighters.
Meanwhile Jordan is hosting a US-run training program to battle Daesh and is a reported key backer of rebel groups that have made several recent gains against government forces in southern Syria.
Syria is home to some 20 major tribes, some of which have members in Iraq and Syria, AFP reports.
