Syrian rebel leader urges truce as infighting Al-Qaeda factions trigger bloodbath

Published time: January 07, 2014 22:47 
Edited time: January 08, 2014 01:02

A leader of an Al-Qaeda affiliated rebel group in Syria has called for a ceasefire with another Al-Qaeda-inspired movement, after internecine clashes between various Islamist anti-government factions resulted in hundreds of deaths in less than a week.

"The foreigners and supporters will pay the price for losing this great jihadi fighting field. The Assad regime will revive itself after it was close to disappearing. The West and the Shiites will find a place to enter into this battle,” said a recorded message from Abu Mohammed Golani, the head of the Nusra Front, posted on the organization’s Twitter feed.

"This unfortunate situation has pushed us to launch an initiative to save the battlefields from being lost. This will be done by forming an independent legal counsel by all the rebel factions in addition to a ceasefire."

Internecine fighting broke out on Friday in the province of Aleppo, after the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) killed a local doctor.

There had been previous resentment towards the group – staffed predominantly with non-Syrian fighters – for the harsh regime it has imposed on controlled areas in the country, since entering the war last year. ISIL is also engaged in conflict in Fallujah in neighboring Iraq, which it plans to unite with Syria to form a caliphate.

Nusra, which also shares a radical ideology but is composed mostly of local fighters, united with several other splinter groups to carry out reprisals against ISIL throughout the country.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring body, says that more than 270 rebel fighters have already perished in the clashes, with heavy casualties on both sides, though ISIL appears to have been pushed back.

FULL STORY: http://rt.com/news/syria-rebels-qaeda-ceasefire-293/