Al-Qaida Group Kills 20 Rebels, Says Rights Group

The AP reports that an al-Qaida-linked group has killed at least 20 rebels during clashes near the northern city of Darkoush.

Rami Abdurrahman of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights “says the attack was carried out by the al-Qaida fighters from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, who have been battling rebels from an array of Syrian rebel brigades, once their allies, since Friday. The Local Coordination Committees also confirmed the bombing.

“The rebel-on-rebel clashes across northern Syria are the deadliest infighting since the uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad began in 2011. Abdurrahman says at least 300 people have been killed in the infighting.”

The New York Times reports on Jabhat al-Nusra’s proposal to end the worst infighting between rebel groups since the conflict began.

“In an audio recording released online on Tuesday, the head of the Nusra Front, known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, said the infighting resulted from the ‘incorrect policies’ of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. He called for a cease-fire and the establishment of an Islamic court to handle disputes, saying the violence could give Mr. Assad’s forces the opportunity to regain territory,” the paper writes. It notes the authenticity of the statement could not be immediately confirmed.

Saudis Back Syrian Rebels Despite Risks

The New York Times also reports on what correspondent Robert Worth calls the “great challenge” facing Saudi Arabia’s leaders: “How  to fight an increasingly bloody and chaotic proxy war in Syria using zealot militia fighters over whom they have almost no control.”

In Riyadh, he talks to Abu Khattab, “a slight-figured man with bulging eyes and the scraggly beard of an ultra-orthodox Salafist Muslim, [who] embodies some of these paradoxes. He now volunteers here once a week to warn young men about the false glamour of the Syrian jihad at the government’s rehabilitation center for jihadists. ‘There is a shortage of religious conditions for jihad in Syria,’ he said. ‘Many of the fighters kill Syrian civilians, a violation of Islam,’ he added.

“But as Abu Khattab talked about Syria, his own convictions seemed scarcely different from the jihadists he had carefully denounced (two officials from the Interior Ministry were present during the interview). He made clear that he considered Shiite Muslims and Mr. Assad’s Alawite sect to be infidels and a terrible danger to his own people.

“’If the Shiites succeed in controlling Syria, it will be a threat to my country,’ Abu Khattab said. ‘I went to Syria to protect my country.’”

First Batch of Chemical Weapons Leave Syria

Reuters reports that the first batch of chemical weapons has been shipped to sea for destruction, following a missed Dec. 31 deadline.

“The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said yesterday that “priority chemical materials” were transported to the port of Latakia and on to a Danish vessel which was now sailing towards international waters,” the wire says.

“Syria agreed to abandon its chemical weapons by June under a deal proposed by Russia and agreed with the United States after an Aug. 21 sarin gas attack that Western nations blamed on President Bashar al-Assad’s forces. Damascus blames rebels for the attack.”

Suggested Reads from Our Editorial Team:

Time:  Syria Rebels Battle With al- Qaeda Fighters as Iraq Implodes Next Door[

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NY Times: Qaeda Group Leader Suggests Islamic Court to End Rebel Infighting

Reuters: ISIS Vows to Attack Syrian Rebels, Opposition Leaders

AFP: Syria Opposition Delays Decision on Peace Talks Until Jan 17

Washington Post: Syria Rebels Seize al-Qaeda Base in Aleppo

Al Monitor: Saudi Challenge to US Syria Policy