...Liwa al-Islam (Brigade of Islam) was established by Zahran Alloush, the son of Saudi-based religious scholar Abdullah Mohammed Alloush, after Syrian authorities released him from prison in mid-2011 where he had been serving time for his Salafist activism. The group claimed responsibility for carrying out the July 2012 Damascus bombing that killed Defense Minister Dawoud Rajiha, Deputy Defense Minister Asef Shawkat, and Assistant Vice President Hassan Turkmani. It was a driving force behind actions in the Damascus region. It cooperated and conducted joint operations with al-Nusra. In Sptember 2013 Saudi Arabia engineered Liwa al-Islam's merger with fifty other more or less Salafist groups as a counterweight to al-Nusra, which the Learned Elders of Islam considered was growing too powereful...told al-Hadath TV on Friday that his organization is not looking to close the door on peace negotiations in the East Ghouta town of Douma.
"We don’t want to close the door that can lead to sparing the blood of civilians and reaching a peaceful situation," Alloush stated, as quoted by Rooters.
Alloush added that his organization was not behind the attack on Damascus that killed at least one civilian and maimed 16 others.
On Friday, the Syrian Arab Army launched a powerful ground and air assault on Douma, seizing several points near the town’s orchards.