He said the decision was made to “expose the deception of the worldwide community, namely the U.S. and Russian Federation, in their relentless bombardment and displacement of the Muslim masses of Syria under the pretext of bombing al-Nusra Front”.
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Along with the reports about the changing relations between al-Qaeda and Jabhat al-Nusra, more information was released about the Nusra Front’s leader al-Jolani with purported pictures of him (until this week he had not publicly shown his face) circulating.
The message included a brief comment from al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri saying: “The brotherhood of Islam is stronger than any organisational links that change and go away”.
This is the second time al-Qaida’s al-Zawahiri has indicated he wouldn’t oppose a split.
But with the amicable break from Al Qaeda, Jolani “can now call upon a broad spectrum of armed groups in Syria to agree to unite initiatives”, said analyst Charles Lister. The last ceasefire brokered by the US and Russia did not cover Nusra or IS, so Russian warplanes and Assad’s forces continued to battle them, often hitting moderate groups that were part of the truce, including ones backed by Washington and its Arab allies.
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.
“We have stopped operating under the name of al-Nusra Front and formed a new body…This new formation has no ties with any foreign party”, he said in a recorded message broadcast on Al-Jazeera’s Arabic channel.
The move has been foreshadowed for several weeks; not for any ideological reasons but because of the military pressure JAN was under from Russian airstrikes and the increasing speculation about a Russia-US agreement that would allow for cooperation on the targeting of ISIS and January.
It is Syria’s preeminent jihadist group, along with its key rival IS. But others have been cooler, like the hardline Islamist Ahrar al-Sham, which has tried to stay closer to the mainstream Syrian opposition.
“Al Qaeda is playing a critically important role in shaping this development and their thinking and strategising will remain crucial for this new Jabhat Fateh al-Sham movement”, he said.
Tamimi said both groups shared the goal of creating a “global caliphate” but that Al-Nusra had “a more subtle long-game approach focused on trying to build popular support”.
“This is to ensure that we are able to see for ourselves the dire situation of the people, assess their needs, adjust to logistical constraints and assist people where they are now with their life-saving and protection needs”, he said in a statement issued at United Nations headquarters. Another distinction is that, unlike IS, most Nusra Front fighters are native Syrians.
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The TV says fliers have already been dropped on Thursday on rebel-held besieged parts of Aleppo city, urging people to take the government’s offer of humanitarian corridors.
