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As Talks Continue, CIA Gets Some Weapons To Syrian Rebels

By Mark Memmott

Published September 13, 2013 at 7:15 AM EDT

A Free Syrian Army fighter looks through the scope of his sniper rifle at an area controlled by forces loyal to President Bashar Assad in Aleppo.

On 'Morning Edition': NPR's Tom Bowman talks with host Steve Inskeep about the crisis in Syria

It's Day Two of talks in Geneva between Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who are seeing if they can come to an agreement on Russia's suggestion that Syria hand over its chemical weapons to international monitors — and thus avert a possible strike by the U.S. military.

As the diplomats negotiate, NPR Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman has been following up on Thursday's claim by the commander of the rebel Free Syrian Army that his forces have not yet received any "lethal aid" — in the form of weapons — from the U.S.

OnMorning Edition, Tom said U.S. sources with knowledge of what's happening say that "the weapons are starting to move into Syria" thanks to a "covert CIA program." Some "moderate" rebel groups are being supplied with small arms, Tom is being told.

It may be, he added, that Free Syrian Army Gen. Salim Idris just isn't aware yet of what's happening because communications are bad inside Syria and because he's in the north of the country while the weapons are reportedly arriving in the south.

Among the morning's other stories:

-- Moving Stockpiles. "A secretive Syrian military unit at the center of the Assad regime's chemical weapons program has been moving stocks of poison gases and munitions to as many as 50 sites to make them harder for the U.S. to track, according to American and Middle Eastern officials." (The Wall Street Journal)

-- Executions. "Syrian government and pro-government forces executed at least 248 people in the towns of al-Bayda and Baniyas on May 2 and 3, 2013, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. It was one of the deadliest instances of mass summary executions since the start of the conflict in Syria."

-- Progress In Talks. "Kerry and Lavrov have been making more optimistic noises after meeting the international envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi. They told a press conference they were hopeful that talks on Syria's chemical weapons would help revive an international plan for a "Geneva 2" conference to end the war in Syria." (The Guardian)

-- U.N. Resolution Not Expected To Include Military Option:According to Reuters, which quotes unnamed Obama officials, the U.S. doesn't expect a U.N. Security Council resolution on Syria to threaten the use of military force, if chemical disarmament fails.

The U.S., said the officials, will insist on a "range of consequences," including "increased sanctions."

Thursday's post: U.S. Rejects Assad's Timetable For A Chemical Weapons Deal