During a meeting with congressional leaders, President Obama said he wants to immediately begin a program to provide military training to the moderate opposition in Syria, the Free Syrian Army, a senior White House official said.

Unlike already established, secret CIA programs to support the Syrian rebels, this would be an overt program to train the rebels at camps that would be set up in countries in the region that have now agreed to allow the training to take part on their territory, according to the official.

The official would not specify where in the region the training would take place, but pointed to a trip over the weekend by White House counterterrorism adviser Lisa Monaco to Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

The president told congressional leaders he needs authority from Congress to begin this training program, the official said. It will require a vote of Congress. The White House was adamant that the vote must come immediately, the source said.

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