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WAR REPORT
Bonded together: Al-Qaeda in Iraq and Al-Nusra Front
by Staff Writers
Baghdad (AFP) April 9, 2013


Qaeda in Iraq confirms Syria's Nusra is part of network
Baghdad (AFP) April 9, 2013 - Al-Qaeda in Iraq said for the first time on Tuesday that Al-Nusra Front, a jihadist group battling President Bashar al-Assad's regime, was part of its network and fighting for an Islamic state in Syria.

The remarks by the leader of Al-Qaeda's front group in Iraq, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, were made in an audio message posted on jihadist forums and confirm widespread suspicions of links between the two groups.

"It is time to declare to the Levant and to the world that the Al-Nusra Front is simply a branch of the Islamic State of Iraq," Baghdadi said in the audio message.

The groups will now be combined and called the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant.

Baghdadi said the group was willing to ally with other groups "on the condition that the country and its citizens be governed according to the rules dictated by Allah".

Al-Nusra Front first gained notoriety for its suicide bombings in Syria but has evolved into a formidable fighting force leading attacks on battlefronts throughout the country.

Its suspected affiliation to Al-Qaeda's front group in Iraq led to it being labelled a "terrorist" organisation by Washington in December.

At the time, the US State Department described it as a "new alias" for Al-Qaeda in Iraq, and said it was "an attempt by AQI to hijack the struggles of the Syrian people for its own malign purposes".

According to the US, the head of Al-Qaeda in Iraq "is in control of both AQI and Al-Nusra" and reports on Internet forums used by jihadists indicate hundreds of militants have made the trip from Iraq into Syria to fight Assad's regime.

Syria's conflict, now in its third year, is believed to have killed more than 70,000 people since it erupted in March 2011.

Al-Qaeda's front group in Iraq, the Islamic State of Iraq, acknowledged on Tuesday that Al-Nusra Front, a jihadist group fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime, was part of its network.

The statement in an audio message posted on jihadist forums was the first confirmation of widespread suspicions among analysts and officials of links between the two groups, both of which are labelled "terrorist" organisations by Washington.

The new organisation will be called the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant and its Syrian branch will be headed by Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, the network's leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi said.

Officially, Al-Nusra was established in January 2012, according to a video statement declaring its creation, and shares several commonalities with its Iraqi counterpart.

Both groups have achieved notoriety for their use of suicide attacks and car bombs, as opposed to the more conventional fighting methods of other militant and rebel groups in Iraq and Syria.

Like Al-Qaeda in Iraq, Al-Nusra Front has a substantial portion of foreign fighters among its ranks, including Iraqis, Palestinians and other Arabs. Fighters from central Asia, east Africa and eastern Europe have also joined.

And Baghdadi also confirmed that the Iraqi branch had helped its Syrian counterpart by contributing funds and training, as well as transferring experienced fighters.

According to many analysts, Al-Nusra's current strength is also partially a result of Assad's regime looking the other way as jihadists made their way into Iraq to fight US troops via Syria.

The fighters were using decades-old smuggling routes that became popular during an embargo imposed on Iraq in the 1990s, when many commodities had to be illicitly transported into the country.

Now many are headed back into Syria to fight for jihadist groups such as Al-Nusra.

But, crucially, analysts say that Al-Nusra has also learned from mistakes made by Al-Qaeda in Iraq, in particular by frequently stating that its targets are military and official representatives of Assad's regime, though civilians have often been casualties of the group's attacks.

By contrast, Al-Qaeda in Iraq gained a reputation for its brutality to the civilian population, helping foster animosity towards it and contributing to the trend of Sunni Arab tribal militias that had once fought alongside the group against US forces later siding with American troops.

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