'Foreign Jihadists are flocking to Syria'

07 September 2012

Anthony Tucker-Jones reports on how Syrian rebels are increasingly accepting the support of al-Qaida affiliated radical Islamist groups

There is growing concern that the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) is increasingly relying on foreign al-Qaida affiliated jihadists. This is in part driven by the failure of the international community to act after 18 months of conflict.

In February, Osama bin Laden's heir as leader of al-Qaida, Ayman al-Zawahiri, issued a call to arms for militants to support their brothers in Syria.

Ever since an Islamist group claimed responsibility for a major bomb attack in Damascus in mid-July it has become apparent that the FSA's guerrilla war is increasingly adopting the urban terror tactics of the jihadist movement.

Birmingham MP Khalid Mahmood has warned that British Muslims are travelling to Syria to wage jihad. A Londoner was discovered fighting with the rebels in Aleppo, while opposition fighters including men with British Midlands and South London accents recently took journalist John Cantlie hostage – albeit briefly. This has led to calls that those visiting war zones should have their passports revoked.

Ed Husain, author of The Islamist, has shown how easy it is for disenchanted young British Muslims to be recruited by radical groups such as Jamat-e-Islami and Hizb ut-Tahrir. Foreign fighters are also said to come from Croatia, Kosovo, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Turkey.

Sunni Muslims see it as their duty to support their co-religionists in the struggle against President Bashar al-Assad's Shia-based Alawite regime. It is also important to remember that al-Qaida is a Sunni organisation.

General Abdel-Aziz who defected to the FSA has warned: "The longer it takes [to oust Assad], the more groups and agendas get involved, and the more people from outside complicate our battles."

While Syria has its own local jihadist groups such as the Ahrar al-Sham fighting in Aleppo, the conflict has drawn in the Lebanon-based Palestinian Fatah al-Islam and the Palestinian Abdullah Azzam Brigades. Abdullah Azzam was Osama bin Laden's mentor during the 1980s. The Islamist Front for the Protection of the Syrian People or Jabhat al-Nusra li-Ahl al-Sham is believed to be supported by elements of al-Qaida in-Iraq.

Jihadists flocking to foreign wars is nothing new, they did this in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Chechnya - where they were considered more of a liability than an asset. Most tend to be little more than inexperienced war tourists and danger seekers, but while their impact on the fighting is always marginal, it's the impact they have on the peace that is the real cause for concern.

FSA leaders have little choice but to accept the help of Islamist fighters and worry about the consequences later. The FSA claims to have around 40,000 men under arms fighting Syrian government forces numbering up to 200,000.

In the meantime the breakdown of civil law in the face of the fighting in Syria has led to the rise of religious law. In liberated areas in the cities of Aleppo, Dier al-Zour and Homs the rebels have been instigating Islamic courts, operating under Sharia law and issuing summary justice.

While the numbers of foreigners fighting in Syria are currently low, as the war drags more foreign jihadists will flock to the country. They will be harbouring a sense of grievance that the West stood by while innocent people were killed on Assad's orders. In the past this perception led to the rise of militant Islam and bloody attacks on the west.

The legacy of al-Qaida has already been brought home to the streets of New York, Madrid and London. The worry is that British Jihadists could return from Syria to wreak mindless havoc on the streets of Britain's cities.