US charges American with helping Al-Qaeda linked rebel group

The United States has charged a naturalized American citizen with providing military supplies to a Syrian rebel group that often fights alongside the country's Al-Qaeda affiliate, the Washington Post reported.

The Post identified the man late Monday as Amin al-Baroudi, aged 50, and said he was charged in an indictment unsealed last week.

The specific charges are violating US sanctions against Syria and conspiring to defraud the United States, the newspaper said.

Syrian-born Al-Baroudi sought to supply firearm scopes, tactical vests and other supplies to the Ahrar al-Sham rebel group, the Post said.

Ahrar al-Sham is perhaps the most powerful non-jihadist rebel force in Syria, and has sought in recent months to present itself as a moderate group.

It is believed to be among the factions invited to a conference this week in Saudi Arabia along with Western-backed opposition forces to discuss a joint opposition platform ahead of potential negotiations with the Syrian regime.

In July, the group's foreign relations head Labib Al-Nahhas penned a rare opinion piece that was published by the Post, criticising Washington for too narrowly defining "moderate" in the Syrian context.

Nahhas also said Ahrar had been "falsely accused" of being close to Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front.

But the group works alongside Al-Nusra in several battlefronts in Syria, and is part of the powerful Army of Conquest alliance with the affiliate in northwestern Syria's Idlib province.

US prosecutors characterized the group as one that "frequently fights alongside" Al-Nusra Front, the Post said
Source: AFP