Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch Gregorios III, head of the largest Catholic community in Syria, says money and weapons given to moderate groups are reputedly being used by IS in the struggle against President Bashar al-Assad. The Patriarch’s comments came after Mr Assad said on Sunday 26 July that the opposition’s increased strength meant he could not fight on every front against IS, the Al-Nusra Front and other militant groups. Hitting out against the West’s Middle East policies, Patriarch Gregorios said, ‘If the West helps moderates in Syria it is helping IS in an indirect way. Giving money or arms to the weak, moderate groups gets into the hands of the powerful militant groups the next day. We see this happening all the time.’ His comments come after the US-led coalition delivered military aid to help Syrian Kurdish forces fighting against IS in Kobani on the Turkish border and offered support to the Free Syrian Army despite concerns that the aid was being passed - and even sold - to extremist groups.