叙利亚战场或现重大拐点：叙利亚基地组织分支表示考虑与 ...

叙利亚基地组织在接受半岛电视台采访时表示，他们考虑和基地组织切割，只打击阿萨德和伊斯兰国，不袭击西方。希望获得海湾国家援助。

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-28/leader-of-al-qaeda-syria-wing-says-aims-to-take-damascus/6502990?

The leader of Al Qaeda's Syria wing says his group aims to capture the capital Damascus and that the fall of president Bashar al-Assad "is not far away".

Al Nusra Front has made gains in north-western Syria alongside other insurgent groups in recent weeks, seizing the city of Idlib, the town of Jisr al-Shughour and bringing them closer to government-held coastal areas north of the capital.

"We will continue our focus on Damascus and on toppling this regime," Al Nusra's Abu Mohamad al-Golani told news channel Al Jazeera in a rare interview aired on Wednesday.

"I assure you, the fall of Bashar is not far away.

"I do not want to project much optimism, but there are very positive signs."

He warned members of the country's minority Alawite sect to renounce Mr Assad. The Alawite community, of which Mr Assad is a member, is an offshoot of Shiite Islam.

"If they drop weapons, disavow Assad, do not send their men to fight for him and return to Islam, then they are our brothers," he said.

It was not clear where the interview took place and Golani's face was not shown. He sat on an ornate chair opposite the interviewer with his back to the camera.

Al Nusra Front re-emerges

Jabhat al-Nusra, or the Al Nusra Front, is now re-emerging as one of the dominant rebel factions fighting to overthrow the regime of Syria's president Bashar al-Assad.
A black flag used by the group was placed on the table between him and the interviewer from the Qatar-based channel, which did not ask about reports that Al Nusra might distance itself from Al Qaeda.

Earlier this year, sources told Reuters news agency that Al Nusra's leaders had considered cutting ties with Al Qaeda to form a new entity backed by some Gulf Arab states trying to topple Mr Assad.

Sources within and close to Al Nusra said that Qatar was encouraging it to go ahead with the move, which would result in more support from Gulf states hostile to both Mr Assad and the Islamic State (IS) group.

The Sunni Muslim Nusra Front is the most powerful faction in Syria opposing both Mr Assad and IS.

Golani also condemned the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah, which backs Mr Assad, saying Hezbollah knew its fate was linked to the Syrian leader and its efforts to save him were in vain.

Nusra Front is listed as a terrorist organisation by the US and has been sanctioned by the UN Security Council.

But it is more powerful than the mainstream groups favoured by Washington and its Arab allies in the fight against both IS and Mr Assad's government.

Al Nusra Front chief pledges no attacks on the West

Golani's comments are likely to do little to dispel Western fears about the growing influence of hardline insurgents in Syria and Al Nusra's loyalty to Al Qaeda.

But Golani said Al Nusra's fight was with Mr Assad and Hezbollah, and he would not use Syria as a launching pad for attacks on the West.

"The instructions that we have are not to use al-Sham as a base to launch attacks on the West or Europe, so as not to muddy the current war," he said.

"Our mission in Syria is the downfall of the regime, its symbols, and its allies, like Hezbollah."

But when pressed, Golani said that all options were open if US-led forces continued to target it.

"All options are open. Anyone has the right to self-defence," he said.

US-led forces have carried out air strikes that have hit Al Nusra targets, saying they were targeting a specific Al Qaeda-linked faction called Khorasan Group.

Golani said there was no such thing as Khorasan Group in Syria.

"We only heard about this name when the Americans said it," he said.

Apart from its recent battlefield gains in the north-west, Al Nusra is a major force in fighting against government forces and allied militia around the northern city of Aleppo.

It is also fighting in southern Syria and its fighters have frequently clashed with IS in a number of locations.


叙利亚基地组织在接受半岛电视台采访时表示，他们考虑和基地组织切割，只打击阿萨德和伊斯兰国，不袭击西方。希望获得海湾国家援助。

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-28/leader-of-al-qaeda-syria-wing-says-aims-to-take-damascus/6502990?

The leader of Al Qaeda's Syria wing says his group aims to capture the capital Damascus and that the fall of president Bashar al-Assad "is not far away".

Al Nusra Front has made gains in north-western Syria alongside other insurgent groups in recent weeks, seizing the city of Idlib, the town of Jisr al-Shughour and bringing them closer to government-held coastal areas north of the capital.

"We will continue our focus on Damascus and on toppling this regime," Al Nusra's Abu Mohamad al-Golani told news channel Al Jazeera in a rare interview aired on Wednesday.

"I assure you, the fall of Bashar is not far away.

"I do not want to project much optimism, but there are very positive signs."

He warned members of the country's minority Alawite sect to renounce Mr Assad. The Alawite community, of which Mr Assad is a member, is an offshoot of Shiite Islam.

"If they drop weapons, disavow Assad, do not send their men to fight for him and return to Islam, then they are our brothers," he said.

It was not clear where the interview took place and Golani's face was not shown. He sat on an ornate chair opposite the interviewer with his back to the camera.

Al Nusra Front re-emerges

Jabhat al-Nusra, or the Al Nusra Front, is now re-emerging as one of the dominant rebel factions fighting to overthrow the regime of Syria's president Bashar al-Assad.
A black flag used by the group was placed on the table between him and the interviewer from the Qatar-based channel, which did not ask about reports that Al Nusra might distance itself from Al Qaeda.

Earlier this year, sources told Reuters news agency that Al Nusra's leaders had considered cutting ties with Al Qaeda to form a new entity backed by some Gulf Arab states trying to topple Mr Assad.

Sources within and close to Al Nusra said that Qatar was encouraging it to go ahead with the move, which would result in more support from Gulf states hostile to both Mr Assad and the Islamic State (IS) group.

The Sunni Muslim Nusra Front is the most powerful faction in Syria opposing both Mr Assad and IS.

Golani also condemned the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah, which backs Mr Assad, saying Hezbollah knew its fate was linked to the Syrian leader and its efforts to save him were in vain.

Nusra Front is listed as a terrorist organisation by the US and has been sanctioned by the UN Security Council.

But it is more powerful than the mainstream groups favoured by Washington and its Arab allies in the fight against both IS and Mr Assad's government.

Al Nusra Front chief pledges no attacks on the West

Golani's comments are likely to do little to dispel Western fears about the growing influence of hardline insurgents in Syria and Al Nusra's loyalty to Al Qaeda.

But Golani said Al Nusra's fight was with Mr Assad and Hezbollah, and he would not use Syria as a launching pad for attacks on the West.

"The instructions that we have are not to use al-Sham as a base to launch attacks on the West or Europe, so as not to muddy the current war," he said.

"Our mission in Syria is the downfall of the regime, its symbols, and its allies, like Hezbollah."

But when pressed, Golani said that all options were open if US-led forces continued to target it.

"All options are open. Anyone has the right to self-defence," he said.

US-led forces have carried out air strikes that have hit Al Nusra targets, saying they were targeting a specific Al Qaeda-linked faction called Khorasan Group.

Golani said there was no such thing as Khorasan Group in Syria.

"We only heard about this name when the Americans said it," he said.

Apart from its recent battlefield gains in the north-west, Al Nusra is a major force in fighting against government forces and allied militia around the northern city of Aleppo.

It is also fighting in southern Syria and its fighters have frequently clashed with IS in a number of locations.