Al Qaida finds a toehold in Syria

The revelation that the anti-Syrian regime group Jabhat Al Nusra has pledged its allegiance to Al Qaida has yet to be fathomed by those sympathetic to the forces fighting the regime of Bashar Al Assad. The Syrian people have legitimate demands of freedom and prosperity. They paid an unprecedented price in the past two years to realise those demands in the face of a brutal regime, supported by a formidable army and some international and regional players, mainly Russia and Iran.

The world has been watching the massacres and the deteriorating human conditions since the start of the uprising in March 2011 without the least resolve to confront the regime. Several countries have extended some sort of help to those opposing the regime. But those countries have always been reluctant to go the extra mile in stopping the bloodshed in the hope that a political settlement is somewhat possible despite the conventional wisdom that sees no hope of bridging the gap between the regime and its opponents.

Jabhat Al Nusra’s announcement of its allegiance to the Al Qaida chief Ayman Al Zawahiri further complicates the already complex situation. First, there certainly is no chance of including this group in any political agreement. The international community recognises Al Qaida as the ultimate embodiment of terrorism that must be eliminated.

Secondly, the Syrian people cannot tolerate the existence of such a violent group. They are not opposing an authoritarian regime to hand over power to a terrorist movement. Thirdly, the group’s announcement makes it very difficult for countries that have been arming parts of the Syrian opposition to upgrade their weapons shipments as they fear such arms may fall into the wrong hands.

Thus, legitimate Syrian opposition groups such as the Syrian National Coalition must clearly distance themselves from Jabhat Al Nusra and other extremist groups. They have to assure the Syrian people that an alternative to the current regime will only be a democratic, inclusive and tolerant system that can heal the wounds after four decades of oppression.