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Caspian Report - Issue: 07 - Spring 2014

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Anti-war<br />

demonstrators<br />

rally near the<br />

Federal Building<br />

calling for a<br />

troop pullout in<br />

Afghanistan.<br />

AHMET YUKLEYEN<br />

20<br />

ing to Salafists, Shia are not Muslim<br />

– indeed, Al-Qaeda lists Shia along<br />

with “heretics, [...] America, and Israel”<br />

as the four principal “enemies<br />

of Islam.” 46 For instance, Al-Qaeda<br />

affiliated organizations attack the<br />

Syrian regime because they consider<br />

Alawites to be one of the enemies of<br />

Islam.<br />

Al-Qaeda has several direct and indirect<br />

affiliates in the Middle East. The<br />

Al-Nusra Front is a branch of Al-Qaeda<br />

operating in Syria and Lebanon.<br />

It announced its creation on January<br />

23, 2012. 47 Since then it has been<br />

described as “the most aggressive<br />

and successful” force up to ten thousand<br />

fighters and making up nine<br />

percent of the Free Syrian Army. 48<br />

The group has been designated as a<br />

terrorist organization by the United<br />

Nations. There are indirect affiliates<br />

of Al-Qaeda in Syria as well, such as<br />

the “Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant”,<br />

or ISIS in Arabic abbreviation.<br />

There have been claims and counter<br />

claims of a merger between the Al-<br />

Nusra Front and ISIS. Most recently,<br />

Al-Qaeda declared that they have cut<br />

off ties with ISIS. 49 The affiliations<br />

and ideological affinities of Al-Qaeda<br />

46.<br />

Lawrence Wright (2006) The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda And The Road To 9/11 (New York:<br />

Knopf) p. 303.<br />

47.<br />

Agence France-Presse (2013) “Zawahiri disbands main Qaeda faction in Syria” Nov. 8.http://<br />

www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/131108/zawahiri-disbands-main-qaeda-factionsyria-0.<br />

Retrieved on Feb. 21, 2104.<br />

48.<br />

David Ignatius (2012) “Al-Qaeda affiliate playing larger role in Syria rebellion” Nov. 30.http://<br />

www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/post/al-qaeda-affiliate-playing-larger-rolein-syria-rebellion/2012/11/30/203d06f4-3b2e-11e2-9258-ac7c78d5c680_blog.html.<br />

Retrieved on Feb. 20, <strong>2014</strong>.<br />

49.<br />

Liz Sly (<strong>2014</strong>) “Al-Qaeda disavows any ties with radical Islamist ISIS group in Syria, Iraq” The<br />

Washington Post. February 3, http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/al-qaeda-<br />

disavows-any-ties-with-radical-islamist-isis-group-in-syria-iraq/<strong>2014</strong>/02/03/2c9afc3a-8cef-<br />

11e3-98ab-fe5228217bd1_story.html. Retrieved on Feb. 25, <strong>2014</strong>.

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