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U.S. expects some familiar faces among Syria rebel recruits
Source: Reuters
U.S. expects some familiar faces among Syria rebel recruits
BY PHIL STEWART
WASHINGTON Tue Dec 2, 2014 4:16pm EST
(Reuters) - The United States is creating a vigorous vetting process to weed out undesirables among the Syrian rebels it will train to fight Islamic State, but some of the new recruits will be familiar faces requiring far more limited screening.
The program is expected to include a number of fighters already known to the U.S. government who could take as little as a day to initially vet, U.S. officials said.
The United States already has ties with networks of Syrian fighters, including through a clandestine CIA program that has already trained rebels and through U.S. government programs to provide non-lethal aid.
"We (the U.S. government) have a current relationship with people on the ground. We are not starting from scratch," one U.S. official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The priority is to screen out human rights violators, spies and rebels who might switch sides.
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BY PHIL STEWART
WASHINGTON Tue Dec 2, 2014 4:16pm EST
(Reuters) - The United States is creating a vigorous vetting process to weed out undesirables among the Syrian rebels it will train to fight Islamic State, but some of the new recruits will be familiar faces requiring far more limited screening.
The program is expected to include a number of fighters already known to the U.S. government who could take as little as a day to initially vet, U.S. officials said.
The United States already has ties with networks of Syrian fighters, including through a clandestine CIA program that has already trained rebels and through U.S. government programs to provide non-lethal aid.
"We (the U.S. government) have a current relationship with people on the ground. We are not starting from scratch," one U.S. official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The priority is to screen out human rights violators, spies and rebels who might switch sides.
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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/02/us-mideast-syria-usa-rebels-idUSKCN0JG2BF20141202