Syrian rebels rebuff leader's sacking by high command abroad

Members of the Jund Allah Brigades, part of the Free Syrian Army, sit along a street in Deir al-Zor, eastern Syria February 18, 2014. Picture taken February 18, 2014. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi

ISTANBUL/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Regional unit commanders of the main Western-backed Syrian rebel faction rejected the dismissal this week of their chief by the group's foreign-based command council and pledged to keep fighting under his command.

Their repudiation of the decision was a further sign of deepening disarray within Syria's fragmented opposition movement that has weakened the nearly three-year uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.