U.N. Worried about Foreign Fighters in Syria

Foreign militants fighting in Syria could contribute to an increased "radicalization" of the conflict, members of a U.N. commission investigating rights abuses in the war-torn country said Tuesday.

"The presence of foreign militants, radical Islamists or jihadists, worries us very much," commission head Paulo Sergio Pinheiro told reporters, estimating there were hundreds of foreign combatants on the ground in Syria.

"Their presence can contribute to radicalization... this presence is particularly dangerous in a very volatile conflict," he said.

Pinheiro added that the commission feared the foreign combatants were not fighting for "the building of a democratic state in Syria" but "for their own agenda."

Commission member Karen AbuZayd warned the fighters were "radicalizing some element" of the Free Syrian Army, "in part because they have weapons that some of the armed opposition does not have access to."

AbuZayd noted, however: "Mostly, they are operating separately."

Interviews conducted by the commission, whose members have been barred from entering Syria, have revealed that the fighters come from "about 11 countries -- not only neighboring countries but other countries."

The New York Times has reported that most of the arms secretly transported into Syria, thanks to Saudi Arabia and Qatar, end up in the hands of Islamist groups.

When asked about the evolution of the situation in Syria since the commission's last report was published in mid-August, Pinheiro lamented the geographic spread of the conflict, blaming both sides.

"The civilian population is paying the price of this extension," he said.