The Free Syrian Army - conflicting narratives

One founder of Free Syrian Army found, says ready to meet with Russia and “Syrian regime”

Off Guardian,

11 October, 2015

Fahad al-Masri on RT Arabic.

The Russian daily Kommersant reports:

The head of the InternationalCommittee of the Council of the Russia Federation, KonstantinKosachev, said that Moscow managed to establish contacts with the moderate Syrianopposition, but it is unknownwhether the interlocutors arerelated to the “Free Syrian Army“.

“Such contacts do exist, but we’re still not sure that those who are on the other sideanswering the phone,figuratively speaking, areactually part of this liberation army. So this is a big problemfor Syria. And it seems to me that over time it will only be exacerbated, not resolved,” saidMr Kosachev on the TV channel“Russia 1“.

He noted that the moderate opposition may be Russia’s allyin the fight against the terrorist group “Islamic state” (IS). As reported by “Kommersant“, the Russian Ambassador in LondonAlexander Yakovenko handed over to the Ministry of ForeignAffairs of the United KingdomRussia’s request for assistance in establishing contacts with the “Free Syrian Army” in order to coordinate efforts in the fight against ISIS.

Previously one of the foundersof the “Free Syrian Army,”Fahad al-Masri reported that he had met in Paris withDeputy foreign Minister of Russia Mikhail Bogdanov. “Wemet with Mikhail Bogdanov, regarding Russia’s position on Syria. We, the ‘Free SyrianArmy’, are ready to meet with representatives of the Russian authorities and we are also ready to meet with representatives of the Syrianregime,” he said.

In November 2013 Fahad al-Masri, who now resides in Paris, was demoted as the Free Syrian Army’s spokesman by Salim Idriss, the chief of staff of the FSA, for not reflecting the views of the FSA (statement at the left) after al-Masri delivered on Sky News Arabia a passionate denunciation of the “extremist terrorist groups” operating in Syria. (see the video here).

One year earlier, in November 2012, Fahad al-Masr spoke like this:

Russia Contacts Free Syrian Army, Asks Third Countries for Verification

Moscow has established contacts with the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and called on third countries to verify whether its dialogue partners truly represent the so-called moderate opposition, the head of the Russian upper house of parliament’s Foreign Affairs committee said Saturday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Wednesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that it was informing foreign partners of its readiness to establish contacts with the FSA, an armed Syrian opposition faction considered moderate by Western countries.

"Such contacts exist, but we're still not entirely sure that those responding to phone calls, figuratively speaking, are in fact the liberation army," Konstantin Kosachev said in an interview with Russia’s Rossiya-24 television channel.

According to Kosachev, the FSA may join Russia in the fight against the Islamic State jihadist group in Syria.

Russia’s Sukhoi Su-25, Su-24M and Su-34 attack aircraft, with the support of Su-30 jets, commenced precision airstrikes against ISIL targets in Syria on September 30, following a request from Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Apparently the Guardian has succeeded in tracking down members of the phantom "Free Syria Army" where everyone else has failed.

What I note is they have removed the comments section for this article (for obvious reasons).

Syrian rebels decry Russian airstrikes: 'we have not had Isis here in over a year'

Residents in areas hit by Russian airstrikes describe widespread destruction of civic buildings and housing while Free Syrian Army largely shelters itself

Bunkered down in his base just north of Hama, Captain Mustafa of the Free Syria Army (FSA) is getting used to the Russian airstrikes. And he is growing just as accustomed to the assurances of his American backers: “We can have most of the weapons we want,” he says. “But nothing to shoot down the planes.”

They say they "haven't seen ISIS in a year" but the more apt question might have been the last time they saw al-Nusra or other al-Qaedia-afflilated group.

See in this BBC map all the "opposition forces" are lumped together.