Pour élaborer une « narrative » cohérente bons salafistes versus mauvais salafistes (AQ) en Syrie il suffit de faire comme Reuters : ne parler que de « Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), » autrement dit faire comme si al Nosra n’existait plus.
Insight : Saudi Arabia boosts Salafist rivals to al Qaeda in Syria
▻http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/01/us-syria-crisis-jihadists-insight-idUSBRE9900RO20131001
Rebel and diplomatic sources said it was Saudi Arabia which nudged rebel brigades operating in and around Damascus to announce this week that they have united under a single command comprising 50 groups and numbering some thousands of fighters.
The formation of the Army of Islam in the capital’s eastern fringe under Zahran Alloush, leader of the group Liwa al-Islam, strengthens Salafist jihadis owing allegiance to Riyadh against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), an al Qaeda branch which has in recent weeks taken control of territory from other Islamist forces in parts of northern and eastern Syria.
The establishment of the Army of Islam follows last week’s joint declaration by groups, mainly in the northeast but also including Liwa al-Islam, who agreed to fight for Islamic rule and also rejected the authority of the Western- and Saudi-backed opposition in exile, the Syrian National Coalition (SNC).
That accord was notably not signed by ISIL.
D’après Hassan Hassan (partisan des Saoud) al-Nusra aurait été éliminé du nouveau groupe,
▻http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/10/01/the_army_of_islam_is_winning_in_syria?print=yes&hidecomments=yes&page
Saudi Arabia appears to be central to the merger of rebel groups
around Damascus. Liwa al-Islam chief Zahran Alloush is backed by Riyadh, while both Ahrar al-Sham, which is supported by Qatar, and Jabhat al-Nusra have been excluded from the new grouping. Although Liwa al-Islam had been part of the Saudi-backed FSA, the spokesman of the new grouping told an Arabic television channel that the Army of Islam is not part of the FSA. This is likely because the FSA has lost the trust of many rebel groups, and adopting a religious language will be more effective in countering the appeal of radical groups — which is what happened after the announcement of the merger, as various Islamists and moderate groups welcomed the move.
