Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi deemed al-Nusra’s changing name to Jabhat Fath al-Sham a mere play on words that did not alter its terrorist nature.
Advertisement
In a rare televised message, Jolani said the new group “will have no links whatsoever with foreign parties”.
“The brotherhood of Islam that bonds us is stronger than any obsolete links between organizations”, he said, “These organizational links must be sacrificed without hesitation, if they threaten your unity”.
Jolani said that the rebrand was an attempt to “remove the excuse used by the global community-spearheaded by America and Russia-to bombard and displace Muslims in the Levant: that they are targeting Nusra Front, which is associated with al-Qaeda”. The State Department said that they judged groups by what they did, not what they called themselves, and US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said it was a PR move created to avoid being targeted militarily. Nusra is one of the groups excluded from the cessation of hostilities agreement, along with ISIS.
Syria analyst Aymenn Al Tamimi put the number of Al Nusra militants at between 5,000 and 10,000 – with 80 percent of them Syrians.
The announcement is the first time that an entire branch of al-Qaida has said it is leaving the terror network. Changing its name will not save Jabhat al-Nusra from being bombed, it will continue to be regarded as a terrorist organisation.
He underlined the step took place with the blessings of al-Qaida’s leadership, and he thanked them for their understanding.
A Russian deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said Washington’s stance would allow militants to regroup since it required a ceasefire before distinguishing between terrorists and other opposition groups.
“The Nusra Front was in talks with other Syrian Islamist groups earlier about joining force in an alliance of some sort”, said Aron Lund, a nonresident associate in the Carnegie Endowment’s Middle East Program.
Many had expected the announcement as there were speculations that by distancing itself from al-Qaeda, Nusra would seek to secure more financial and arms support from rich Arab states of the Persian Gulf region.
Al-Qaida’s affiliate in Syria has managed to build a large base of support among insurgents in the war-torn country, and has had some success in persuading regional governments it should be seen as a useful partner in the conflict raging in Syria, by marketing itself as the moderate alternative to Islamic State extremists.
Also on Thursday, Syrian government forces drove rebels from the neighbourhood of Bani Zeid, on Aleppo’s northern outskirts, after heavy overnight fighting, a monitor said.
Members of Nusra Front gather before moving towards their positions during an offensive to take control of the northwestern city of Ariha from forces loyal to Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, in Idlib province May 28, 2015.
Advertisement
In January, a report by the Institute for the Study of War and American Enterprise Institute said al Nusra was a greater threat to the United States in the long term than ISIS, making the United States’ focus on the latter group misguided.
