Posted on 01/23/2014 7:02:14 AM PST by mac_truck
The leader of al-Qaida called on rival Islamic groups in Syria to end their infighting and focus on battling President Bashar Assad's forces in a recording released Thursday.
The call by Ayman al-Zawahri came as activists said that fighting between the al-Qaida-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and an array of other Islamic militant groups intensified in northern Syria.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said "Islamic State" fighters fully captured the northern town of Manbij on Thursday after days of fighting.
The Observatory said that 1,395 people, mostly rebel fighters, have been killed since the infighting began Jan. 3, the worst clash among opposition groups since Syria's crisis began in March 2011.
Al-Zawahri said the internal fighting "between the holy warriors of Islam has bloodied our hearts" and that it should stop immediately. He called on Islamic groups in Syria to set up an Islamic court that would mediate and resolve their differences.
He said Islamic fighters should focus on "bringing down Assad's secular, sectarian, unjust and criminal regime to set up a just Islamic state."
Al-Zawahri's five-minute audio message was posted online Thursday to websites commonly used by militants groups. Its authenticity could not be independently verified, though it corresponded to previous messages by al-Zawahri.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
Did McCain and Linda concur?
I'm sure they do... likely they'll be giving a joint presser announcing it.
That's appropriate. Indirectly or maybe even directly, Ayman al-Zawahri is asking Obama to join his winning team. Who would be surprised if O takes the bait?
"Let's just join up with Al Qaeda until we get rid of Assad and then we will kick them out of Syria just like we did in Iraq, Egypt, Afghanistan and Libya".
aw I love it when these guys fight each other
The Sunni Islamic groups will continue to fight and kill each other.
His hand will be against every man, and every man will be against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.
Go ahead, try to tame the Arab.
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