Al Qaeda's Syria wing says truces only benefit government

Truces between the government and opposition fighters in Syria only benefit Damascus, the leader of one of the largest insurgent groups in the conflict said in comments broadcast on Saturday.

The comments by Abu Mohamad al-Golani, head of al Qaeda's Syria wing Nusra Front, came after the implementation of a truce deal in Waer, the last insurgent-held area of Homs city, between the local government and insurgents.

"Truces are the first step to surrender and take place only in the interests of the regime," he said in comments to reporters broadcast on the opposition-affiliated Orient News TV channel.

It was not immediately clear when the recording took place. Golani's face was digitally obscured.

Under the Waer deal, fighters who rejected the terms and some civilians were allowed leave and humanitarian aid was allowed in. Nusra Front fighters were among those who rejected the ceasefire and left.

A senior United Nations official told Reuters this week the Waer ceasefire was a good model to build on and could help promote a nationwide truce in the nearly five-year conflict that has killed 250,000 people.

U.N. officials were present when fighters started to leave Waer last week.

Golani also criticized a Saudi-hosted Syrian opposition conference held last week as "a conspiracy" and said fighters who had attended had not followed the orders of their leaders.

Nusra Front, a Sunni Muslim hardline group, was not invited, and Golani said would not have wanted to attend anyway.

"(The conference) was not in the interests of the people of Syria, which is unacceptable," he said. He also added that those who attended did not have the ability to implement any outcomes on the ground.

Golani gave a rare two-part interview to the Qatari-financed Al Jazeera channel earlier this year in what appeared to be an attempt by his group to cast itself to an Arab audience as a Syrian national movement.

"We took the path of jihad and we have to complete the process, and we are talking about liberating more than 80 percent of Syrian territory," he said on Orient News.

 

 

REUTERS