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Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Islamist Rebels Want Islamic State For Syria

After suffering through a civil war that has been ongoing since the uprising in March, 2011 the Syrians won't have much to look forward to, when it eventually ends, if some of the  rebel groups get their way.

Unfortunately, foreign fighters and Islamists have taken advantage of the armed conflict in that country and now want to establish an Islamic state in once-secular Syria. That is, of course, when President Bashar al-Assad is finally killed or exiled.

On November 11 in Qatar, the Syrian opposition created the National Coalition, but the rebel groups have flat out rejected it.

"We, the fighting squads of Aleppo city and province, unanimously reject the conspiratorial project called the National Coalition and announce our consensus to establish an Islamic state" in Syria, a spokesman announced in the video.

"We reject any external coalitions or councils imposed on us at home from any party whatsoever," he said.

The unidentified speaker sat at the head of a long conference table with at least 30 other men and a black Islamist flag on the wall behind him.

He listed 14 armed groups as signatories to the statement, including Ahrar al-Sham and Liwa al-Tawhid.

After the statement, another man held up a copy of the Koran, saying forcefully to the camera that it should be "your constitution."

"God is greatest," the group said in unison.

Not everyone, however, wants that for Syria.

Abdel Jabbar al-Okaidi, the head of the main rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) in the embattled northern city of Aleppo, said that the statement did not represent the opinion of all rebel groups in the province.

"These groups represent a number of military factions on the ground and reflect their position, but not all military forces in Aleppo agree with this," the defected former colonel said by phone.

"The military council has announced its support for the National Coalition and is collaborating with them," Okaidi added.

It's ironic that the Syrian people initially fighting for their freedom will eventually have it replaced by something even darker, if the Islamists indeed gain power.

All those deaths, well over 40,000 so far, for nothing.

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