Syria jihadist group pledges allegiance to Qaeda chief

AFP/Damascus

The head of Syria’s jihadist Al Nusra Front pledged allegiance to Al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahri yesterday, but distanced his group from claims it has merged with Al Qaeda in Iraq.

Al Nusra’s announcement is likely to bolster assertions by President Bashar al-Assad’s regime that it is fighting “terrorists” who want to impose an Islamic state.

“The sons of Al Nusra Front pledge allegiance to Sheikh Ayman al-Zawahri,” Abu Mohamed al-Jawlani said in a recording.

But, he added, “we were not consulted” on a claim by Al Qaeda in Iraq chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi on Tuesday of a merger with Al Nusra.

“We inform you that neither the Al Nusra command nor its consultative council, nor its general manager were aware of this announcement. It reached them via the media and if the speech is authentic, we were not consulted.”

Jawlani stressed his group would not change.

“Al Nusra Front will not change its flag, though we will continue to be proud of the flag of the Islamic State of Iraq, of those who carry it and those who sacrifice themselves and shed their blood for it,” said Jawlani, acknowledging he had fought in Iraq alongside the ISI, Al Qaeda’s Iraqi offshoot.

Jawlani’s comments came a day after the ISI announced Al Nusra was part of its network, confirming long-held suspicions that led the US to put the group on its terror blacklist.

The announcement followed a message from Zawahri, urging rebels to fight to establish an Islamic state in Syria, and was received with caution by the mainstream rebel Free Syrian Army.

“We don’t support the ideology of Al Nusra,” FSA spokesman Louay Muqdad told AFP.

Al Nusra is among the most prominent organisations involved in Syria’s conflict, which erupted in March 2011 with peaceful protests against Assad’s regime but has evolved into a war that has killed tens of thousands.

It has gained notoriety for suicide bombings but also won admiration from some insurgents for its reputation as a formidable fighting force leading attacks on battlefronts across Syria.

Baghdadi’s statement raised suspicion among anti-Assad activists in Syria, said Abu Nadim, who lives in rebel-held Douma near Damascus.

“When Al Nusra Front first appeared on the scene, we didn’t know much about it. Now people know what it’s about, and many have condemned attacks that targeted civilians,” Abu Nadim said via the Internet.

“We will not accept any group imposing its ideology. Who says we want to build an Islamic caliphate, or that we’re even thinking about that, while Syria is burning?”

The West has been wary, and the announcements this week are likely to complicate any attempt to arm the rebels.

The US and EU are now providing non-lethal aid to the rebels, but Britain and France want an EU arms embargo on Syria lifted so they can supply the rebels with weapons.

Despite the announcements, a group of pro-opposition government representatives, including US Secretary of State John Kerry, would meet next week in Istanbul to discuss Syria, a US State Department official said, asking not to be identified.