Analysis - Al Qaeda's Syria rift may lead to open conflict among jihadis
(Reuters) - A rift between Syrian jihadis and their fellow fighters from al Qaeda's Iraqi wing may lead to internecine war among some of the most effective rebel groups in combating President Bashar al-Assad.
Trouble has been brewing since April over what Syria's Nusra Front regards as a power grab by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic State of Iraq. Now, Baghdadi's insistence that he will keep fighting as head of a united jihadi brigade in Syria, defying orders from al Qaeda chief Ayman Zawahri, has brought the two groups close to turning on each other.
"Tension is increasing, it is about to reach boiling point. Both sides are saying they are right. A clash between them could occur soon and if it happens, it will be ugly," said a senior rebel commander in Damascus who is following the dispute.
The two-year uprising against Assad has drawn fighters from many foreign countries to both sides, in what is increasingly a sectarian struggle between the main denominations of Islam. Some Iraqi Shi'ites are fighting for Assad, whose Alawite sect is an offshoot of Shia Islam, while Iraqi Sunni radicals who once took on U.S.-led forces at home have joined the Syrian rebels.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/06/24/uk-syria-crisis-qaeda-analysis-idUKBRE95N0U320130624
