Report: Congress Stops US Arms for Syrian Rebels; Fears Weapons Would Fall into Hands of Al-Qaeda

Both House and Senate intelligence committees have voted to stop sending military aid to Syrian rebels by freezing the funding intended to ship arms, the Newser website reports today.

Sources say the decision was made last month, amid fears that the weapons would end up in the hands of Islamist militants.

Syrian rebels do not appear to have received any new U.S. arms, Reuters adds, and are confused by the suspension.

"If we are going to arm, we have to make sure we have control of what arms are out there and how people are trained to use those arms so they don't fall into the hands of our enemy al-Qaeda," says Dutch Ruppersberger, the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee.