Rebels linked to al-Qaeda set to take Syrian airbase (http://www.theherald.com.au/story/1230819/rebels-linked-to-al-qaeda-set-to-take-syrian-airbase/?cs=5) By David Enders, www.theherald.com.au | January 12, 2013

‘A Syrian rebel group that the US has labelled an affiliate of al-Qaeda in Iraq appears on the verge of overrunning a government airbase ….

‘A US State Department spokeswoman … offered an upbeat assessment of the rebel advance …

‘The Obama administration had hoped designating the Nusra Front a terrorist entity would channel aid to the rebels away from it and towards more moderate factions.

‘The designation, however, was immediately denounced by Sheikh Moaz al-Khatib, the head of the newly founded Syrian National Coalition, which the US has said should lead any post-Assad government…’