ASIA/SYRIA - Contrasts between the jihadist factions. Father Karam: it is now a war "all against all"

Monday, 11 November 2013

Beirut ( Agenzia Fides) - The leader of al-Qaeda Ayman Zawahiri with an official pronouncement has delegitimized the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the jihadist organization that last year had assumed a hegemonic position in the frontline of anti-Assad militias. In a statement recorded a few days ago and sent to some Arab networks, a spokesman for Zawahiri announced that henceforth the leader of ISIL Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi can only operate in Iraq and should leave al-Nusra Front - other Islamist faction linked to al-Qaeda, led by Abu Mohammad Golani - leadership of military operations in Syria. So far, the two organizations had moved independently, sometimes entering into competition.
The input sent by al-Qaeda is a further indirect confirmation of the growing conflicts between the factions fighting the Syrian army government, loyal to Assad. "Today", says to Fides Fr. Paul Karam, Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in Lebanon "on Syrian ground it is a war, all against all: where will it take us? Is this the Arab Spring? Hatred, fanaticism, terrorism increases: Who pays for all this? only the exhausted Syrian population and, within society, the minorities who are the most vulnerable of all. I believe it is essential to let every people decide on their fate and their future". According to Fr. Karam "it is necessary to promote a true path of peace that does not take the form of a plan for the division of the country. An international peace conference is needed in order to address the Syrian crisis in a genuine, practical and effective way, following the compass of human rights and religious freedom ". (GV/PA) (Agenzia Fides 11/11/2013)


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