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Syrian Jihadism by Aron Lund

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The same source adds that Jabhat el-Nosra freely receives non-<strong>Syrian</strong> volunteers, and that<br />

although the foreigners rarely participate in battles, they carry out the majority of suicide<br />

operations and conduct training for local members. However, the source also claims that<br />

some members of Jabhat el-Nosra are known to him for collaborating with the Assad regime<br />

during the Iraq war, and states that he believes that the group is “indirectly” manipulated <strong>by</strong><br />

the regime. 75<br />

Many <strong>Syrian</strong> dissidents, including leaders of the SNC and the FSA, have voiced similar<br />

suspicions. 76 Having long refused to acknowledge a jihadi presence in Syria at all, they blame<br />

Jabhat el-Nosra’s activity on the government, although often with very little evidence. A<br />

small number of jihadi theologians have also kept their distance. The most notable example is<br />

Abu Basir el-Tartousi, a major salafi-jihadi thinker from Syria who has been quite hostile to<br />

Jabhat el-Nosra, and instead endorses the FSA as his ”heroic Mujahedin” of choice. 77<br />

Some of the jihadi criticism against Jabhat el-Nosra focuses on its closed and intransparent<br />

nature. Its leader (referred to <strong>by</strong> the nom de guerre el-Fateh Abu Mohammed el-Joulani,<br />

which indicates that he is from the Israeli-occupied Golan/Joulan Heights), appears only<br />

through distorted voice recordings, and the group refuses to comment on its background.<br />

While this could be attributed to an understandable need for secrecy, the lack of identifiable<br />

members is disquieting to some jihadis, and it has helped fuel the rumors that Jabhat el-Nosra<br />

is a regime creation.<br />

Questions also surround one alleged Jabhat el-Nosra operation in particular. On May 10, two<br />

explosions in the southern Qazzaz neighborhood of Damascus damaged a compound housing<br />

Branch 251 of the Military Intelligence Directorate, better known as the Palestine Branch. For<br />

75 Interview with a <strong>Syrian</strong> activist who prefers to remain anonymous.<br />

76 Mohammed Al Shafey & Paula Astatih, "FSA and Islamists express doubts about Al-Nusra Front", el-Sharq el-awsat, March<br />

22, 2012, www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=1&id=28956.<br />

77 Abu Basir al-Tartousi, ”al-muarada al-islamiya lil-nizam al-souri”, Facebook post, February 27, 2012,<br />

https://www.facebook.com/moaradaislamiya/posts/332542243454471; Aaron Y. Zelin, "New article from Shaykh Abū Basīr al-<br />

Ṭarṭ ūsī: 'Question and Answer About the Mujāhidīn of the Free <strong>Syrian</strong> Army'”, Jihadology, February 15, 2012,<br />

jihadology.net/2012/02/15/new-article-from-shaykh-abu-basir-al-ṭ arṭ usi-question-and-answer-about-the-mujahidin-of-the-freesyrian-army.<br />

For more on Abu Basir el-Tartousi (real name: Abdelmoneim Mustafa Halima) and the conflicts among jihadi<br />

scholars concerning the <strong>Syrian</strong> uprising, see <strong>Aron</strong> <strong>Lund</strong>, ”Holier Than Thou: Rival Clerics in the <strong>Syrian</strong> Jihad”, Jamestown<br />

Terrorism Monitor, Vol. 10, No. 14, July 16, 2012,<br />

http://www.jamestown.org/programs/gta/single/?tx_ttnews[tt_news]=39615&cHash=ae5805038349487757e5e256bcc7566d.<br />

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