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Friday, 17 May 2013
Last Update: Friday, 17 May 2013 KSA 17:34 - GMT 14:34
Jihadis' aims go beyond toppling Assad
Friday, 17 May 2013
A fighter from the Islamist Syrian rebel group Jabhat al-Nusra
is seen in front of a burning vehicle in this May 12, 2013 file photo.
(Reuters)
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Reuters, Beirut - Mariam Karouny
The most feared and effective rebel group battling President Bashar al-Assad,
the Islamist Nusra Front, is being eclipsed by a more radical jihadi force
whose aims go far beyond overthrowing the Syrian leader.
Al Qaeda's Iraq-based wing, which nurtured Nusra in the early stages of
the rebellion against Assad, has moved in and sidelined the
organization, Nusra sources and other rebels say.
Al Qaeda in
Iraq includes thousands of foreign fighters whose ultimate goal is not
toppling Assad but the anti-Western jihad of al Qaeda leader Ayman
al-Zawahri - a shift which could extend Syria's conflict well beyond any
political accord between Assad and his foes. The fighting has already
cost 90,000 lives.
The break-up of an important part of Syria's
opposition, already splintered into hundreds of armed groups, worsens
the dilemma faced by the West as it debates whether intervention to
support the rebels will result in arms being placed in the hands of
hostile Islamist militants. And the if the West were to intervene, it
may now be under pressure to attack al Qaeda opposition forces rather
than Assad
“Nusra is now two Nusras. One that is pursuing al
Qaeda's agenda of a greater Islamic nation, and another that is Syrian
with a national agenda to help us fight Assad,” said a senior rebel
commander in Syria who has close ties to the Nusra Front.
“It is disintegrating from within.”
Others said that Nusra's Syrian contingent has already effectively
collapsed, with its leader Abu Mohammad al-Golani keeping a low profile
and his fighters drifting off to join other rebel groups.
Nusra
fighters have claimed responsibility for the deadliest bombings of the
two-year-old Syrian conflict and their brigades have led some of the
most successful rebel offensives against Assad's forces.
The
group was formally designated a terrorist organisation by the United
States six months ago, a step which Washington said was vindicated by a
declaration in April that Nusra was merging with al Qaeda's Islamic
State of Iraq.
But the U.S. move drew criticism from Syrian
rebels and opposition leaders alike, reflecting the fact that Nusra was
able to win grudging support beyond its core Islamist base because of
its fighters' discipline and battlefield successes.
Many
Syrians turned a blind eye to the growing presence of foreign and Arab
jihadi fighters in its ranks because Nusra fighters cooperated with
other rebel brigades, worked to curb looting and provided help for
displaced Syrians.
By contrast the head of the Islamic State of
Iraq, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who has moved into northern Syria to take
tighter control over al Qaeda operations in the country, has few
admirers among Syrian fighters.
They see him as a brutal figure
with little time for the intricacies of Syria's struggle, focused less
on toppling Assad and more on imposing a radical Islamist rule including
religious courts and public executions. Many accuse him privately of
hijacking their revolution.
“We reject his presence here on the
ground. He should take his fighters and go back to Iraq,” said a Nusra
source who is close to Nusra leader Abu Mohammad al-Golani. “We are not
happy with the way he operates nor with his methods.”
Baghdadi steps in
Baghdadi's announcement in early April that his Islamic State of Iraq
was formally merging with Nusra to form the Islamic State of Iraq and
the Levant clearly took the Syrian Nusra rebels by surprise.
Golani said he had not been consulted and, while swearing allegiance to
al Qaeda's Zawahri, insisted his fighters would continue to operate
under their own Nusra Front banner.
“Golani pledged religious
allegiance to Zawahri, but not political or military (allegiance),” said
the Nusra source close to Golani. “It was an attempt by Golani to keep
his distance from Baghdadi.”
But the move did not help. Soon
after, in a direct challenge to Golani, Baghdadi travelled from Iraq to a
town in Syria's Aleppo province, where he was joined by Arab and
foreign jihadis who had formerly fought for Golani's Nusra.
Rebels say the rift continued to widen and the foreign and Arab wing is
now operating formally under the banner of the Islamic State of Iraq and
the Levant, while many Syrian Nusra fighters have dispersed to join
other Islamist brigades.
“The situation has changed a lot.
Baghdadi's men are working but Nusra is not working formally anymore,”
said another Nusra source. “Those with Baghdadi are the fiercest
fighters at all. The brothers are trying to avoid them as much as
possible.”
The source, and other Syrian Nusra fighters who
spoke to Reuters, said they feared Baghdadi's supporters would alienate
Syrians in the same way that their hardline agenda turned Iraqis against
them, paving the way for U.S.-backed Sahwa militias to turn the tide
against al Qaeda in western Iraq in 2007.
“A trap for Golani”
Nusra sources said they were waiting for Zawahri to settle the issue, hoping he
would call on Baghdadi to return to Iraq.
“We have two choices now. Either Zawahri announces the separation of
Syria's Nusra from Iraq's Islamic State, or he orders Baghdadi to stay
(in Syria) and if this happen then its a disaster,” said one Nusra
source. “Baghdadi has harmed the Nusra Front. He caused great damage and
broke up the front.”
But the Syrian rebel commander, who is
from a Western-backed rebel group, said that Baghdadi already had
Zawahri's blessing when he moved in.
“They set a trap for
Golani,” he said. “They wanted a foot inside (Syria) and helping Golani
at the start with men and arms provided that, until they became stronger
so they took over.”
In a telling video published this week,
masked fighters from Islamic State of Iraq and Levant executed three men
they said were officers from Assad's Alawite minority sect in the
eastern town of Raqqa.
After the shootings there were only
muted chants of support for the fighters and activists said that small
protests broke out at night condemning the execution and calling on the
fighters to fight Assad instead of executing people.
Several
Nusra fighters said they feared that if Baghdadi's influence continued
to grow, his ultra-radical agenda would see the Iraqi Sahwa phenomenon
played out again in Syria.
“We as Syrians do not want a repeat
of that. The Baghdadi men have declared the Nusra fighters who left
him... as infidels. We still reject his state, if Zawahri does not put
an end to this then the situation will get worse,” one said.
The senior rebel commander said he even expected the growing clout of
Baghdadi's fighters would finally end the West's reluctance to intervene
militarily in Syria - not against Assad, but his hardline enemies.
“We expect soon drone attacks, like Yemen, to begin againstal Qaeda members,”
he said.
Golani goes to ground
Meanwhile Golani, who was formally declared a terrorist by Washington
on Thursday, is now in hiding. “He has gone to ground until the problem
is solved,” said a source close to Golani.
Even though few
people even know what Golani looks like, and fewer still have met him,
he has gained popularity among Syrians and songs have been written to
celebrate his exploits.
His real name is not known even to some
of his fighters and many people long suspected that he was a fictitious
fighter created to give a Syrian 'front' to the Iraqi al Qaeda.
Sources say he is Syrian and in his 40s, roughly the same age as
Baghdadi. He is currently in rural Damascus province, they say,
accompanied by some of his remaining fighters.
Baghdadi, an
Iraqi, helped fund Nusra fighters, who also had financial support from
private donors in Arab Gulf countries. The Iraqi wing is financed from
al Qaeda's global support network.
One Nusra fighter said he believed Baghdadi held a personal grudge against
Golani because of his standing in Syria.
Golani, a radical Sunni Muslim, won popularity in Syria even among some
Christians, according to the Nusra fighter. “Baghdadi did not like
this,” the fighter said.
“Baghdadi and the (al Qaeda)
leadership consider the Muslim Brotherhood, the Free Syrian Army and
other factions including Christians as infidels and when they saw Golani
was on good terms with them they were not happy.”
“That is why
he announced the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant without any
consultation with Golani, and he is in charge to operate in his old
failed way.” فارسي
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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