Dozens of Kuwaitis "fighting Syrian regime"

Dozens of Kuwaitis are fighting with the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) after crossing from Turkey, the Gulf emirate's Al-Qabas newspaper reported on Sunday, citing the fighters' relatives.

The daily said that "dozens of Kuwaitis have crossed the Turkish-Syrian border with the aim of fighting alongside the FSA against Syrian regime forces."

Relatives of the fighters said they were in contact with them and that "there are large groups from Saudi Arabia, Algeria and Pakistan" ready to join the armed uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime that broke out in March last year.

Calls to fight alongside the FSA have multiplied in recent weeks on online Islamist social networks in Saudi Arabia.

In response, the kingdom's top religious body issued an edict last week prohibiting Saudis from fighting against Assad's regime without prior approval from the government.

The FSA consists mainly of former troops who have deserted the regular army in protest against the government's bloody crackdown.

The Syrian government has long claimed it is fighting a foreign-backed insurgency, with Gulf monarchies supplying weapons and finance for armed rebels to destroy the regime.

(AFP, Al-Akhbar)