Abu Mohammed al-Jolani appeared in camera for the first time to announce his group’s name has also changed to Jabhat Fath al Sham, or The Front for liberation of al Sham. Much of al-Nusra’s activities had been directed by al-Qaeda’s headquarters in Pakistan: “The new formation has no ties with any foreign parties”, al-Jolani was keen to stress.
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Al Qaeda Ayman al-Zawahri on Thursday informed the Nusra Front, its branch in Syria, that it can cut its ties with the main organization if needed, in order to be able to keep fighting in the Syrian civil war. “Then, after swearing allegiance to Al-Qaeda, this group began acting as its branch, along with such terrorist structures as Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula”, it said.
Without the al-Qaida name, the group will now seek to expand its alliances with other Syrian rebels, including relative moderates backed by Washington and its allies.
“The aim of this “game” is an attempt to remove al-Nusra from the list of terror groups, but the despicable face of extremism and terrorism can not be purified through such moves”, he said. “And there continues to be increasing concern about Nusra Fronts’ growing capacity for external operations that could threaten both United States and Europe”. “We certainly see no reason to believe that their actions or their objectives are any different, and they are still considered a foreign terrorist organization”, echoed State Department spokesman John Kirby. “The innocent people of Aleppo should be able to stay in their homes safely, and to receive the humanitarian access, which Russian Federation and the regime…in principle have agreed”.
Powerful position Nusra/Jabhat is the most powerful fundamentalist faction in Syria.
While it has lost fighters and some territory overlooking the coastal plain, its rival Islamic State has shed a quarter of its territory in the past 18 months and is under existential threat in Syria and Iraq.
But its closeness to other rebels has complicated efforts at a ceasefire.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the pro-government forces had taken full control of the district. The opposition called it a euphemism for forced displacement. He said in an audio file posted online that the Nusra Front should do “whatever protects the interests of Islam and Muslims and protects jihad” in Syria. It was reported by state-run news agency SANA.
Safe corridors are said to have been opened for civilians to flee.
The first image of the secretive head of Al-Qaeda in Syria has emerged – after years of speculation over his identity.
A rebel source confirmed that the army had made advances.
But, without any evidence that the group has really renounced any of its more extremist policies, these groups and their supporters have the same hard choice to make. Humanitarian groups have warned of a major catastrophe if the siege on the rebel-held parts of Aleppo continued. Kerry’s talks with the Russians, aimed at building a system to jointly identify targets, have been largely fruitless.
“There is an element here of a political ruse at least”, he said.
But if rebels grow closer to an ostensibly “al-Qaida-free” Levant Conquest Front, they are likely to see such an air campaign as just a pretext for Moscow to help Assad defeat insurgents.
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“The Russians want to destroy ISIS (Islamic State) to save Assad”, the official said.
