Jabhat al-Nusra fighters march toward the northern village of Ais in Aleppo province, Syria, in this file photo posted online by the group on April 1, 2016.
Advertisement
Breaking with al-Qaida, even if only in name, also could hurt Nusra: It loses the brand name that drew many of its fighters to its ranks.
Analysts are divided on the potential significance of the separation and its consequences for al-Qaeda, which has struggled to maintain its allure in the face of a rising Islamic State, a group that favors a combination of heinous acts of violence and jihadist propaganda. On his left side sat leading member of the Nusra Front Shura Council, Abdelrahim Atoun, who goes by the nom de guerre of Abu Abdullah al-Shami. One leaked USA proposal would call for a sharing of intelligence and targeting for strikes against IS and Nusra on the condition Russian Federation commits to convince its ally Assad to ground Syria’s bombers and start a political transition process.
The Iranian spokesman also called on the worldwide community to pay attention to the root causes of terrorism and its outcomes, and to pressure the founders and supporters of terrorist groups into uprooting the inauspicious phenomenon.
The Guardian quoted a British official as also saying the group poses a threat to security. The group has been especially concerned with long-term viability, and has kept a lower profile while the world focuses on taking out ISIS.
Al-Qaeda, founded by Osama bin Laden and to which Al-Nusra pledged allegiance in 2013, encouraged the split to protect “the jihad of the Syrian people”.
Nusra Front’s old flag was black, the color used by ultra-hardline jihadist groups such as al Qaeda and Islamic State.
“We have stopped operating under the name of Nusra Front and formed a new body”.
Soon after the meeting, Rifai was killed by a USA drone strike. “Russian strikes no doubt lent a certain urgency to such discussions”.
In the video statement broadcast by Syrian pro-opposition Orient TV and Al Jazeera, Mr.al-Jolani announced the establishment of the Front to Conquer the Levant (Jabhat Fateh al-Sham), a name that had previously been circulating but was only confirmed on Thursday. Officially terroristic organizations announced about this fact on Thursday.
It was certainly part of a plan coordinated with al Qaeda’s central leadership. He declared that this new group has “no affiliation to any external entity”.
“The United States continues to assess that Nusra Front leaders continue to maintain the intent to conduct eventual attacks in and against the West”, White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters Thursday.
“Nusra’s move won’t make it easier for countries like Qatar and Turkey to support it”, he tweeted.
As such, it attracted significant support from those who wanted to harness the group’s strength against Mr Assad.
Advertisement
There is no chance whatsoever that this rebranding will affect Russia’s calculations, and initial comments from the U.S. administration suggest that the United States will continue as before too. “Those that cooperate with it”.
