Syria rebel video claims new split in opposition

Several dozen rebel groups in southern Syria have broken with the main political opposition group in exile, a local commander has said in a video, dealing a potential new setback to Western efforts to unify moderates battling President Bashar Assad's regime.

The Turkey-based Syrian National Coalition, the political arm of the Free Syrian Army rebel group, has long struggled to win respect and recognition from the fighters. It is widely seen as cut off from events on the ground and ineffective in funnelling aid and weapons to the rebels.

In the video, a rebel in military fatigues read a statement with about two dozen fighters standing behind him, some holding a banner with FSA emblems.

FSA spokesman Louay Mikdad told The Associated Press that the video is authentic and identified the man speaking as a captain in one of the rebel groups, Anwar al-Sunna, which posted the video.

The rebel in the video said political opposition leaders have failed to represent those trying to bring down Assad.

"We announce that we withdraw our recognition from any political group that claims to represents us, first among them the Coalition and its leadership which have relinquished the principles of the homeland and the revolution," he said.

He named 66 groups that he said support his statement. The man suggested rebel groups would reorganise, saying that "we are unifying the forces of the revolution militarily and politically," but did not explain further.

It could not be confirmed independently if all the groups named in the video support the statement. Noah Bonsey, an expert on Syrian rebels at the International Crisis Group think tank, said one of the larger groups named in the video did not post the statement on its Facebook page.

Nevertheless, Louay Mikdad, an FSA spokesman, said the video should serve as a wakeup call to the Coalition.

"We respect what they (the rebels) are saying," he said. "We think our brothers in the Coalition ... Should listen to the people inside and they should open a direct dialogue with them."

He said the FSA commander, Gen. Salim Idris, would try to speak to some of the groups named in the video.

Coalition spokesman Khaled Saleh did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

Hundreds of groups of fighters operate in Syria, often with considerable local autonomy, and shifting alliances are common in a chaotic battlefield. Last month, nearly a dozen of Syria's more powerful rebel factions broke with the Coalition and called for Islamic law in the country, cementing the rift between rival camps.