By leaving al-Qaida, Nusra would be able to ally even more closely with other rebels, proponents of the move within the group say – in turn putting pressure on the USA not to support strikes on its ranks.
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Jabhat al-Nusra leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani in an undated photo released online, July 28, 2016, to announce that the militant group is changing its name and cutting ties with al-Qaeda.
An informed source told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that the leader of the Nusra Front chose a new name that is not only restricted to Syria.
Clad in military fatigues and wearing a turban, Jolani thanked “the commanders of Al Qaeda for having understood the need to break ties”. Instead, it was meant to remove the excuse used by the worldwide community – led by the United States and Russian Federation – to “bombard and displace Muslims… under the pretense of targeting Jabhat al Nusra”.
Washington believes that Nusra’s “fundamental nature is that it’s al-Qaida in Syria”, said U.S. State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau when asked Tuesday about talk of a possible split.
The distribution of his audio message by the Syrian jihadist group – in addition to Masri’s reference to studying the Syrian arena – further points to his presence in Syria.
The announcement is the first time that an entire branch of al-Qaida has said it is leaving the terror network.
The White House spokesman, Earnest, acknowledged the difficulties, saying it’s complex to distinguish between extremist groups and moderate opposition groups and those complexities aren’t diminished by Nusra’s public denial that it’s associated with al-Qaida. There will be much caterwauling about how the Americans and Russians are still unfairly bombing “Jabhat Fateh al-Sham”.
Speaking in January, Kagan observed that the Nusra Front chose not to overtly attack the West “because the al-Qaeda leadership’s priority is preserving success in Syria and avoiding being targeted by the U.S”. The U.S. has said it considers Nusra to be al-Qaida in its “fundamental nature”.
It thus seems that the decision was strategic, and not due to any beef with Al-Qaeda’s jihadist ideology. “And there continues to be increasing concern about Nusra Fronts’ growing capacity for external operations that could threaten both United States and Europe”.
“There are quite a few foreigners among the middle managers and less among the fighters”, he said.
“You can sacrifice without hesitation these organizational and party ties if they conflict with your unity and working as one body”, al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri said in an audio statement directed to the Nusra Front.
Al-Qaeda said earlier that it supported the move.
The al-Qaeda leader has reportedly approved the split so the Nusra forces could concentrate on their fight against the Syrian government.
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Al Qaeda operative Sulayman Abu Ghayth told US investigators that he, Masri and other al Qaeda operatives were arrested in Shiraz, Iran, in April 2003 and jailed in Tehran for almost two years.
