Jihadi rebel groups reject Syria’s west-backed opposition

The groups, including the al-Qaeda linked Jabhat al-Nusrah, which has been branded a terrorist group by the US, released the statement in a bid to undermine western strategy in Syria, and put an end to the moderate, exiled, opposition organisation.

Worryingly for the Syrian National Coalition, the signatories to the statement include some of the more moderate rebel groups, such as the al-Islam and al-Tawhid brigades.

We call on all forces and factions of the military and civilian authorities to unit within an Islamic framework that … is based on Sharia law. Rebel group statement

The united rebel groups number in the tens of thousands of fighters, though it is difficult to give an exact number.

However, if the alliance of these groups remains intact, it makes up the most powerful rebel group to rival the Free Syrian Army.

Syria interactive: who are the rebel groups fighting Assad?

The statement, read by the highest political leader of the al-Tawhid Brigade, Abdel Aziz Salame (pictured above), calls on those fighting against Assad to unite under an Islamic framework, governed by “sharia law”.

Trouble for the West?

It also says the rebels do not recognise any future government of Syria formed outside Syria, and names the Syrian National Coalition, based in Turkey, specifically.

In doing so, the statement is it odds with the aspirations of the West, including the US, Britain and France, who back the coalition.

At the most extreme, Jabhat al-Nusrah (pictured, below) is a signatory. Estimates have put the size of the group at around 15,000, and in April the group announced it had become a faction of al-Qaeda.

Also signed up is the Islamic Ahrar al-Sham Movement, and umbrella organisation within the Syrian Islamic Front – an organisation of some of Syria’s most hardline rebel groups.

Within this number are the Ahrar al-Sham Brigade, a well-trained and heavily armed group thought to number around 10,000, and the al-Fajr movement, thought to number around 5,000.

Also featured are members of the Syrian Islamic Liberation Front (SILF) – an umbrella organisation which includes a range of moderate and more hardline Islamist groups.

SILF groups that signed up to the statement include the al-Islam Brigade, the al-Tawhid Brigade and Suquor al-Sham – which in total have been estimated to number around 30,000.

These three are also members of the Supreme Military Council, the ruling body over the Syrian National Council’s military wing – effectively the free Syrian Army.

It is no the first time such a statement has been made. In November 2012, following the formation of the Syrian national Coalition, groups including al-Tawhid, Jabhat al-Nusrah and Ahrar al-Sham signed a statement denouncing it.

Aron Lund, a Swedish writer who specialises in Syria, wrote on the Syria Comment blog: “The difference between then and now is that the November 2012 statement seems to have been very poorly anchored, and basically sprung on everyone by Jabhat al-Nusrah who (I heard) gathered local commanders and had them sign a statement without consulting their top leadership properly. So it fell apart very quickly.”

Whether or not this new alliance stays united remains to be seen – but if it does, it could be a major thorn in the side for Bashar al-Assad, but also Western governments.