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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
ISIL Fighters Flee Arsal to Syria's Riqqa
2015-04-17
[AnNahar] Prominent leaders affiliated to the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) reportedly retreated from the northeastern border town of Arsal to Syria's Riqqa.
...leaving the Al Nusra contingent in control of the field? That will certainly simplify categorizing Arsal stories.
According to the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat published on Thursday, ISIL's command decided to limit its presence in Arsal and its outskirts to 200 fighters and a single leader, spiritual judge Abou Balqis.

Informed sources told the daily that eight ISIL leaders and their groups withdrew to Riqqa, without clarifying the reasons behind the move.
It'll make things easier for the Lebanese army and Hizb'allah contingent guarding the border, too.
However,
we can't all be heroes. Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by...
the sources pointed out that ISIL became weak in the area along Leb's border.

In August, snuffies from the ISIL and al-Nusra
...the current nom de guerre of al-Qaeda in the Levant, which isn't to be confused with al-Qaeda in Iraq and the Levant...
Front overran Arsal where they engaged in brief festivities with the army.

They withdrew from Arsal at the end of the fighting, but kidnapped a number of servicemen.

A few were released, four were executed, while the rest remain held.

The ISIL and al-Nusra
...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli sh-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ...
Front want to exchange the captives with Islamist prisoners in Leb and Syria.

Meanwhile,
...back at the precinct house, Don Calamari's lawyer was getting even redder in the face...
concerned sources denied to Asharq al-Awsat that ISIL transferred the soldiers and coppers in its captivity to Riqqa.

The sources stressed that the hostages are held in a Syrian village near Arsal.

Last week, the relatives of the hostage men demanded the state to clarify media reports saying that ISIL transferred the soldiers and coppers in its captivity to Riqqa.

The families called on negotiators who are following up the case to bring them a new video for the servicemen within a week, warning of escalating their endeavors.
Posted by:trailing wife

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