Free Republic

A jihadist group in Syria said Wednesday that Christians in the city of Raqa will have to pay taxes and hold religious rituals behind closed doors, under a set of rules. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), listed 12 rules which made up an "agreement" with Christians in the northern city to provide "protection." ... Christians must pay a "jiziyeh" tax, as imposed in early Islam on non-Muslim subjects. ... also demands Christians "do not put on display a cross or anything from their book, anywhere on Muslims' path or markets" and that they should not "use...

Elizabeth O’Bagy, a pro-Syrian opposition analyst whose credibility has come under fire, might have even more explaining to do – as court documents show she once vouched for a rebel group whose website displayed extremist and anti-American images. Among the pictures was one showing a burning U.S. Capitol. O’Bagy was fired earlier this week by the Institute for the Study of War for allegedly lying about her academic credentials. Her writings had been used by U.S. officials to bolster their case for military action against the Assad regime. O’Bagy discussed the rebel group in question in a June 19, 2013...

French report cites fighters from 'Army of Muhammad' While the Obama administration reportedly is moving toward recognizing the recently formed and supposedly “inclusive” Syrian National Coalition as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people, recent reports from in and around the embattled Syrian city of Aleppo make clear that Syrian rebel forces on the ground consist virtually exclusively of jihadists, including self-avowed veterans of the al-Qaida-led insurgency against American forces in Iraq. Thus, in a report that appeared last week in the French leftist daily Libération, correspondent Jean-Pierre Perrin describes visiting with one of the rebel militias that have infiltrated...