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>.