The head of the opposition Free Syrian Army told CNN 's Christiane Amanpour on Thursday he has intelligence showing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad 's government is moving its chemical weapons out of the country . `` Today , we have information that the regime began to move chemical materials and chemical weapons to Lebanon and to Iraq , '' Gen. Salim Idriss said from inside Syria . CNN could not independently verify Idriss ' claim . Several senior Israeli officials told CNN 's Elise Labott that they have not seen movements into Lebanon or Iraq , and that they did not believe it made sense for the Syrians to be moving weapons so soon . And Iraq categorically denied that chemical weapons had crossed into its territory , with an adviser to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki speculating `` there is a political agency behind this claim . '' `` We were the victims of chemical weapons under Saddam 's regime , '' said the adviser , Ali al-Moussawi . `` And we will never allow to let any country to transfer chemical materials to our lands at all . '' Still , if the allegation were true , it could fundamentally shift the assessments of U.S. intelligence officials , CNN 's Barbara Starr reports . Namely , these officials have said that al-Assad would not disperse his stockpile of chemical weapons because he knows the United States would not bomb it , that Syrian security forces firmly control the weapons and that there exists a large , secure infrastructure that has been moving these arms from rebel-held areas . Moving these weapons into Iraq , Lebanon or some other country outside Syria might prompt U.S. intelligence authorities to question whether they were being transferred by a rogue element or whether it was evidence of a crack in the government 's control . The Syrian opposition is afraid , Idriss told CNN 's Amanpour , that al-Assad 's forces will then use those weapons sometime in the future -- even after the international effort to collect and destroy its chemical weapons arsenal is finished . `` The regime , '' he said , `` is behaving like Saddam Hussein . '' Idriss said he talked Thursday about what 's happening diplomatically with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry , who the rebel leader claimed told him `` that he will discuss with the Russians how honest the regime is . '' `` And if our friends discover that the regime is trying to play games and waste time , '' Idriss said by way of summarizing Kerry 's remarks , `` the threat of the strikes is still on the table . '' Earlier on Thursday , Idriss told NPR that he had not received `` any weapons from our American friends , '' despite reports that lethal aid had indeed started reaching the Syrian opposition . That includes a U.S. official who told CNN on Wednesday that light and anti-tank weapons as well as ammunition -- paid for by the United States albeit made elsewhere -- had begun flowing to Syrian rebels over the past two weeks . Idriss told Amanpour that he `` ca n't talk about weapons , '' though he did stress that opposition forces were getting help . `` We are getting now a lot of support from our American friends , but I ca n't talk in detail about all kinds of the support , '' he said . For its part , the opposition will support efforts to take control of and eventually dismantle Syria 's chemical weapons , with Idriss saying , `` We will do our best to help them . '' But the rebel leader questioned that things will play out as hoped . `` I think the regime will prevent them to go to the locations and to do their job , '' Idriss said . `` I think the regime will tell them , 'Today you ca n't go out of the hotels because the situation is very dangerous , and tomorrow you ca n't go , ' and they will delay and delay . '' And even if Idriss is proven wrong and Syria 's chemical weapons are wiped out as part of this process , the rebel leader stressed that bigger issues remain in a civil war that the U.N. estimates has killed more than 100,000 people -- most of them by conventional weapons . `` We have many , many problems with the regime , '' he said . `` The chemical weapons ( are ) not ... the only problem that we have . ''
Gen. Ibrahim Idriss says he has info showing Syria is using chemical weapons . Senior Israeli officials say they have n't seen such movement ; Syria firmly denies it . The Free Syrian Army chief says the rebels are ' ` ` a lot of money '' from the U.S . He stresses that chemical weapons are one of many serious problems in Syria .