Istanbul, Turkey (CNN) -- Rival dissident army officers are claiming to lead the increasingly armed rebellion within Syria, exposing rifts within the opposition.
In an interview by telephone with CNN, Maj. Mahar Naimi introduced himself as a spokesman for the "Higher Military Council," a newly formed organization that now claimed to lead armed defectors within Syria.
"This council represents the people fighting in Syria," Naimi said. He added that the council was led by Gen. Mustafa Sheikh, an officer who defected from the Syrian military.
But Naimi's claim was quickly rejected by another defecting officer, Col. Riad al Assad, who spent much of the last year claiming to lead a "Free Syrian Army" of rebel soldiers from a refugee camp on the Turkish border with Syria.
"This man represents himself," Assad said in reference to Sheikh. "He has nothing to do with the Free Syrian Army ... those people are representing themselves and do not represent the revolution and the Free Syrian Army. They don't represent anybody."
Assad spoke to CNN by telephone from the Turkish border region.
"This is a conflict for leadership, which happens in all organizations and political parties," explained a Turkish diplomat, who spoke to CNN following diplomatic protocol on condition of anonymity...
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/02/06/world/meast/syria-rebel-leaders/