BEIRUT: Salim Idriss, the former Syrian army general who now heads the Free Syrian Army’s military command, is a key interlocutor for the West and could be the conduit for future US military aid.

In the West, Idriss is seen as a moderate voice, a counterbalance to some of the more unsavory radicals fighting within the opposition’s ranks.

When US Republican Senator John McCain slipped into Syria briefly last month, he met with Idriss, and has since praised the 55-year-old as a figure the United States can work with.

“Gen. Idriss and his fighters share many of our interests and values,” McCain said in a statement earlier this month.

“They are fighting our common enemies every day in Syria. They are our best hope for a moderate Syria free from Assad, Iran, and Al-Qaeda.”

A former military engineer, Idriss defected in July 2012, and was elected chief-of-staff for the newly formed military council overseeing the Free Syrian Army in December of that year.

Stocky and mustachioed, Idriss hails from the central province of Homs and has at times shown a penchant for fiery rhetoric.