The CIA Has Been Unable To Establish A Presence In Syria

US officials say they believe intelligence gaps have impeded efforts to support the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad.

The officials say spy agencies have expanded their efforts to gather intelligence on rebel forces and Dr Assad’s regime in recent months, but they are still largely confined to monitoring intercepted communications and observing from a distance.

Interviews with US and foreign intelligence officials revealed that the CIA has been unable to establish a presence in Syria, in contrast with the agency’s prominent role gathering intelligence from inside Egypt and Libya during their revolts.

With no agents in Syria and only a handful stationed at key border posts, the CIA has been heavily dependent on its counterparts in Jordan and Turkey and other regional allies.

Lack of intelligence has complicated the Obama administration’s capabilities in a crisis that offers the chance to remove a long-time US adversary but carries the risk of bolstering insurgents sympathetic to al-Qaeda or militant Islam.

Loyalist troops fought rebels in the capital Damascus and the city of Aleppo yesterday as international concern grew over a Syrian threat to use chemical weapons.

The government appeared to confirm on Monday it had stockpiles of chemical weapons, saying they would never be used against Syrian civilians but could be used ”in the case of exterior aggression”.

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