The leader of the al-Nusra Front, a jihadist group fighting
in Syria,
has pledged allegiance to the leader of al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri.
Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani said the
group's behaviour in Syria
would not change as a result.
…
But Mr Jawlani said al-Nusra had
not been consulted on the merger with al-Qaeda in Iraq
and insisted his group would not change its stance in Syria.
FSA statement of
al-Nusra standing as
Spokesmen for the Free Syrian
Army, considered the main armed opposition group in Syria, reacted to Wednesday's
statement by distancing themselves from al-Nusra.
"We don't support the
ideology of al-Nusra," FSA spokesman Louay Meqdad told the AFP news
agency.
"There has never been and
there will never be a decision at the command level to coordinate with
al-Nusra," Mr Meqdad went on, while admitting that there had been co-operation
between FSA brigades and al-Nusra on "certain operations".
Jim Muir’s Commentary of this
The al-Nusra Front clearly finds
itself in an awkward position, caught between pragmatic realities on the ground
in Syria
and its ideological identity and affiliation as an al-Qaeda-related Salafi
group ostensibly bent on installing an Islamic state in the region.
The al-Nusra leader's unequivocal
public pledge of allegiance to Osama Bin Laden's successor Ayman al-Zawahiri
came just three days after the latter called on jihadis to do everything
possible to bring about an Islamic state in Syria, as a building-block for a
wider caliphate.
That is a goal al-Nusra is
generally keeping quiet about, as it seeks to win hearts and minds in the
"liberated areas" and to keep the cooperation of other fighting
groups dedicated to overthrowing the regime in the name of democracy.
Al-Nusra is aware that al-Qaeda
is not a name to conjure with in Syria,
which is presumably why it distanced itself from Tuesday's merger announcement
from the al-Qaeda leader in Iraq.
The public pledge of allegiance
to Al-Qaeda by Syria’s
fiercest rebel group, Al-Nusra Front, serves the interests of President Bashar
Assad’s regime, analysts say.
“It’s a point in the regime’s favor because it reinforces the official
narrative that claims (the army faces) terrorist groups backed by foreign
forces,” said Damascus Centre for Strategic Studies head Bassam Abu Abdallah.
…
Experts say the Free Syrian Army
comprises some 140,000 fighters, while Islamists number around 8,000. But the
Islamists are better equipped and have impressed the population.
Al-Nusra’s pledge to Al-Zawahiri, and claims of ties between the group and
Al-Qaeda’s Iraqi branch the Islamic State of Iraq, were not well-received by
some fighter brigades.
“Liwa Aal-Islam’s command believes that this announcement will be an excuse for
the tyrant Bashar Assad and his cronies... to commit more massacres against
Syrians, under the pretext of fighting Al-Qaeda,” the group said in a statement.
After Al-Nusra’s pledge of allegiance, Abu Abdallah believes the regime will
now go all-out on the battlefield. “It’s a green light for the authorities,” he
said. “The situation has become clearer. We are going to see major change on
the ground, and intensified military operations to finish this group off,” he added.
…
For Thomas Pierret, an Islamic
expert, “all one needs to do is look at the Western media frenzy” to realize
the resonance of Al-Nusra’s announcement. “Assad can logically conclude that
his opponents’ ideological excesses are more worrying to the West than the tons
of explosives he is pouring each day on his population,” said Pierrot, a
lecturer at the University
of Edinburgh.
Rather than embarrass the West, the announcement has only given it “a new,
comfortable pretext to justify their inaction. Despite what they say, somewhat
unconvincingly, they don’t really want to help the opposition,” he said.
One thing so clear between this mess the innocent civilian would suffer, so the West US et al choice of Iran- Hezbollah-Syria Or Syria-al Qaeda... OR SYRIA+FSA! One thing clear both criminal Assad and al-Qaeda( timely G8 foreign
ministers summit al Qaeda announced with
al- Nursa is their own ) they don’t want
west support FSA, as they have their own agendas.
AND
We can then ask why both of criminal Assad and al-Qaeda afraid of FSA is armed? Come to a conclusion is that the strong well armed FSA means end of criminal Assad and end of al-Qaeda's dream of Islamic state Syria! So they should collusion each other please- criminal Assad and al Nusria let them fight each other to death And FSA do what is good at nimble in between....
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