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| Terror Networks | |
| Nusra Front split from al-Qaeda 'imminent,' sources claim | |
| 2016-07-26 | |
| [MIDDLEEASTEYE.NET] The Nusra Front will imminently announce an official split from al-Qaeda, several sources confirmed on Monday. Opposition activists in southern Syria have told Middle East Eye that they expect the news to be announced very soon, with Arabic media reports suggesting that the group's leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani will now make a very rare appearance to signal his independence from the murderous Moslem group. Sources within Nusra, one of the most effective anti-government factions in Syria’s civil war, said that the new group would change its name to Jabhat Fateh al-Sham. They also stressed the group would lose access to al-Qaeda funds, although analysts have disputed the claims. Mohammed Okda, an expert on Syrian issues who has been involved in negotiating with Syrian groups, told MEE that the money would keep flowing because the bulk of the group's funding came from private Gulf donors who would not abandon the Syrian cause as Nusra was unlikely to renounce its ideological heritage. "Nusra is doing this to force the other rebel groups like Ahrar [al-Sham] and others into a corner, and push them into joining the new Shami front that Nusra will announce," Okda told MEE.
...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 fighters. "[But] they are not breaking up with the ideology of al-Qaeda. [They are] firm believer[s] of al-Qaeda ideology, and a firm believer of attacking the West. They have huge respect for [former leader Osama] Bin Laden. So the separation is not ideological, it's organizational." Rumours of a split have been circulating since Saturday when Charles Lister, a Syrian analyst, tweeted that Nusra’s Shura Council had voted to sever its ties with al-Qaeda, although Nusra’s official media channels have yet to comment. | |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 "..push them into joining the new and improved ShamWow© front that Nusra will announce," Vince Shlomi told MEE. |
| Posted by: Frank G 2016-07-26 09:08 |
| #1 They're Arabs; one should expect this. They'll link back up with Al Qaeda in a year or so. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2016-07-26 08:45 |