Jordan Denies CIA Are Training Rebels in Syria
Responding to article from The Los Angeles Times reporting CIA and U.S. special forces have been training rebels in Syria since November
AMMAN: Jordan on Saturday denied an American newspaper report saying that the CIA and US special operations forces were training rebels from neighbouring Syria on its territory.
"There is no training in our country whatsoever of Syrian opposition forces," Prime Minister Abdullah Nsur told a group of journalists including one from AFP.
"The only Syrians we are dealing with in our country are refugees. There isn't any training" of Syrian insurgents in Jordan, he insisted.
On Friday the Los Angeles Times reported that the Central Intelligence Agency and US special forces have been training Syrian rebels at a new US base in the desert in southwest Jordan since November,
The training covers the use of anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons and has been carried out at bases in Turkey as well, the newspaper reported, citing unnamed US officials and rebel commanders.