Free Syrian Army fighters smoke cigarettes as they prepare a mortar launcher near Nairab military airport, which is controlled by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, in Aleppo, September 4, 2013. REUTERS/Hamid Khatib
WASHINGTON/AMMAN (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama's effort to win legislative backing for military strikes against Syria passed its first hurdle on Wednesday when a Senate committee voted in favour, but the narrow margin of victory showed the depth of U.S. caution.
In a possible sign of internal unrest in Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's ruling Alawite sect in the shadow of a likely U.S. intervention, Syrian opposition figures said General Ali Habib, a former defence minister, had defected. Syria denied the report.
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