Syria Rebels deman al-Qaeda group surrender

Syria rebels demand al-Qaeda group surrender
Protesters rally against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, accused of brutal killings and kidnappings.
Last updated: 04 Jan 2014 21:26

Rebels fighting in Syria have given rivals from an al-Qaeda affiliate 24 hours to surrender, according to activists in the country.

Saturday's ultimatum comes amid days of deadly infighting between the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and other opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in two northern provinces, Idlib and Aleppo.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said rebels from an alliance of Islamist groups attacked positions of the fighters from ISIL, killing and capturing dozens of people on Saturday.

The ISIL has been blamed for brutal killings in areas under their control, turning many local residents against them and leading to a growing resistence to the al-Qaeda-linked group's grip on several areas of the country.

Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr, reporting from Beirut in Lebanon, said the developments could signal a turning point in the war.

"This is the most serious violence between armed opposition and ISIL," our correspondent said.

Sixteen ISIL fighters were reportedly killed in the fighting in Aleppo and nearby Idlib on Friday, while at least 42 other ISIL fighters were wounded in Idlib alone.

Meanwhile, protesters in opposition-held parts of Syria chanted slogans condemning the al-Qaeda affiliate.

Ammar, an activist on the ground, described it as "the start of the revolution against ISIL", according to AFP news agency.

ISIL and Western-backed rebel forces are all fighting to overthrow Assad's regime, but tensions between different groups have been rife in recent months.

Several opposition factions, including a number of fighters united under the name "Army of Mujahedeen", were involved in Friday's fighting, according to the Observatory and local activists.

Both the Islamic Front and the Syrian Revolutionaries Front, two key groups made up of tens of thousands of opposition fighters, also condemned ISIL on Friday.

Anti-ISIL protests

The fighting comes days after ISIL reportedly tortured and murdered a leading opposition figure, doctor Hussein al-Suleiman, known as Abu Rayyan.

His death was the latest in a string of beatings, kidnappings and killings attributed to the group, and prompted protesters to take to the streets under the slogan, "Friday of the martyr Abu Rayyan".

Amateur video shot in Aleppo on Friday reportedly showed protesters chanting: "Free Syrian Army forever! Crush ISIL and Assad!"

Abu Leyla, an Idlib-based activist, told AFP via the Internet: "I'd say about 90 percent of people in the opposition areas are against ISIL".

"They use violence and abuses to crush dissent. They are only Islamic in name. All they want is power," he said.

More than 130,000 people have been killed since the war in Syria broke out in 2011.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/01/syria-rebels-demand-al-qaeda-group-surrender-20141413149507176.html

Now if this actually happened, there might be a group in Syria that could be shown to be against Assad, but al Quaeda as well and could be helped, giving the people of Syria a chance of peace. That's a very big 'might' though.

This doesn't sound good -- another dick measuring contest if you ask me. Mind you, I wouldn't tolerate AQ in my country either, but it sounds like hotheadedness over pragmatism.

Ben_Reilly wrote:This doesn't sound good -- another dick measuring contest if you ask me. Mind you, I wouldn't tolerate AQ in my country either, but it sounds like hotheadedness over pragmatism.

It really isn't Ben. The rebels started because Assad was killing his own people by bombing them, which is still going on. Millions of Syrians are now refugees because of it, literally millions, and hundreds and thousands have died. At that point it was pretty clear cut, and the rebels were fighting to overthrow Assad, who the West recognises is doing this. The West was dithering about helping the rebels, you can see why with all the wars that have been fought in the Middle East, but in this case, at that point, it would have saved a lot of people. Then al Qaeda started to fight on the side of the rebels, which muddied the waters and meant that the rebels were now linked with bad guys. When Assad gassed men, women and children, we all said enough, but then we had a problem, because on one side was Assad, killing hundreds and thousands of his own people, and on the other side was rebels trying to stop him, but infiltrated by al Qaeda. Those that are linked to al Qaeda have tried to take over the rebels, and have been killing them. Now the rebels have said enough, and have decided to get rid of them. If this happens, which will be very hard for them to do, then they will become the clear cut 'good guys'. At the moment Assad is in the process of getting rid of chemical weapons, but is still bombing, and his latest tactic is to drop burning barrels of gasoline from aircraft onto the civilian population. The Syrian refugee problem is immense the West knows that it will have a great impact, the conditions these millions of people are living under is pitiful and it is none of their doing. The people in the camps, practically freezing to death because it is winter there, are people like doctors, teachers etc etc who had decent lives before all this started. Therefore, if al Qaeda are kicked out, the situation becomes much more clear cut, not simple by any means, but simpler.

(Sigh) that's the thing with al Qaeda, they do a lot of things the locals can't call anything but good; they've done it for a long time. I've always wondered whether it was from genuine compassion for their fellow Muslims, for propaganda or for both.

Be interesting -- to say the least -- to see what happens in a few hours ...

Yep, and now they are causing hell in Iraq, and guess what, before the invasion, they weren't in Iraq, and couldn't get into Iraq because of Saddam.

Sassy wrote:

Ben_Reilly wrote:This doesn't sound good -- another dick measuring contest if you ask me. Mind you, I wouldn't tolerate AQ in my country either, but it sounds like hotheadedness over pragmatism.

It really isn't Ben.   The rebels started because Assad was killing his own people by bombing them, which is still going on.   Millions of Syrians are now refugees because of it, literally millions, and hundreds and thousands have died.   At that point it was pretty clear cut, and the rebels were fighting to overthrow Assad, who the West recognises is doing this.   The West was dithering about helping the rebels, you can see why with all the wars that have been fought in the Middle East, but in this case, at that point, it would have saved a lot of people.   Then al Qaeda started to fight on the side of the rebels, which muddied the waters and meant that the rebels were now linked with bad guys.   When Assad gassed men, women and children, we all said enough, but then we had a problem, because on one side was Assad, killing hundreds and thousands of his own people, and on the other side was rebels trying to stop him, but infiltrated by al Qaeda.   Those that are linked to al Qaeda have tried to take over the rebels, and have been killing them.   Now the rebels have said enough, and have decided to get rid of them.   If this happens, which will be very hard for them to do, then they will become the clear cut 'good guys'.   At the moment Assad is in the process of getting rid of chemical weapons, but is still bombing, and his latest tactic is to drop burning barrels of gasoline from aircraft onto the civilian population.   The Syrian refugee problem is immense the West knows that it will have a great impact, the conditions these millions of people are living under is pitiful and it is none of their doing.   The people in the camps, practically freezing to death because it is winter there, are people like doctors, teachers etc etc who had decent lives before all this started.    Therefore, if al Qaeda are kicked out, the situation becomes much more clear cut, not simple by any means, but simpler.

Good afternoon Sassy.

I agree with you.But it's going to be tough for the rebels to evict AQ for several reasons,one of which is AQ is well armed & well funded & to be honest they really know what they are doing as well.

Regarding the rebels,what type of rebels are threatening AQs presence? Is it the real anti Assads rebels or rebellious gangs who are having a go at everyone & everything? It's difficult to tell unless one is on the ground observing them.

The best way to beat AQ is for reasonable muslims to turn against them & then kill them.That sounds extreme I know but simply ousting AQ is not enough......They have to be killed because they are so extreme.

As far as can be told from reports, the real anti Assad rebels with the help of locals, but as you say, unless you are there, difficult to tell.