| Syrian rebels seek control over oilfields | Syria's top rebel commander is seeking to create a new military unit to assert authority over oilfields controlled by extremists and other rebels, as lucrative natural resources captured from the regime stoke tension between rival factions.
European Union 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 growing signs of tensions within the rebel camp over control of captured oilfields and other strategic assets.
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.
http://link.ft.com/r/EB8122/EKNRN7/RNZBU6/JEW78G/FDBFF8/UP/h?a1=2013&a2=4&a3=22
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