The leader of Syria’s main political opposition group will ask a reluctant Obama administration to entrust a group of specially trained rebels with a limited number of shoulder-fired anti-aircraft weapons known as Manpads.

Ahead of talks at the White House this week, Ahmed Jarba said in an interview that he will ask the U.S. to either provide the advanced anti-aircraft weapons directly to the opposition or to give a green light to another country to provide the systems. Saudi Arabia and other U.S. allies in the region have Manpads.