The Central Intelligence Agency is expanding its role in the campaign against the Syrian government by feeding intelligence to select rebel fighters to use against government forces

The Central Intelligence Agency is expanding its role in the campaign against the Syrian government by feeding intelligence to select rebel fighters to use against government forces, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

The move is part of a U.S. effort to stem the rise of Islamist extremists in Syria by aiding secular forces, amid fears that the fall of President Bashar al-Assad would enable al Qaeda to flourish in Syria, the paper quoted current and former U.S. officials as saying.

The CIA has sent officers to Turkey to help vet rebels who receive arms shipments from Gulf allies, but administration officials cited concerns about some weapons going to Islamists, the paper said.

In Iraq, the CIA has been directed by the White House to work with elite counter-terrorism units to help the Iraqis counter the flow of al-Qaida-linked fighters across the border with Syria, The WSJ added.

According to the report, the West favors fighters aligned with the Free Syrian Army, which supports the Syrian Opposition Coalition political group.

Syrian opposition commanders said the CIA had been working with British, French and Jordanian intelligence services to train rebels in the use of various kinds of weapons, the paper said. The move comes as the al-Nusra Front, the main al-Qaida-linked group operating in Syria, is deepening its ties to the terrorist organization's central leadership in Pakistan, it indicated.