Syria Support Movement solidarity with the Syrian people
May 26, 2014, Daily Mail
- Two out three people fighting for an extreme Sunni group are foreign
- Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) known for beheadings and crucifixions
- Group considered so extreme it has even been condemned by Al Qaeda
British jihadists make up the largest foreign contingent of one of the most violent terrorist groups in Syria, now infamous for beheading, crucifying and stoning to death enemies.
Syrian rebel commander Brigadier-General Abdulellah al-Basheer has urged the UK to send weapons to help fight Sunni Islamist group The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Almost two out of three of ISIS’ fighters are foreign-born and have chosen to join a group bent on creating an Islamic state in the war-torn country and Iraq.
The group is so extreme that it has even been denounced by Al Qaeda.
Around 400 Britons are believed to have gone to Syria over the last two years to fight, with an estimated 20 having died.
Last week Mashudur Choudhury, 31, became the first person in the UK to be convicted of terrorist offences in connection with the Syria conflict after he went to the Middle Eastern country with the intention of joining a terrorist training camp last October.
In a letter to The Times, General al-Basheer, chief of staff of the supreme military council, the commanding body of the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA), which opposes the regime of President Assad, said the ‘majority’ of ISIS fighters were from the UK, with others from France, Germany and Belgium.
He said: ‘We, the Syrian people now experience beheadings, crucifixions, beatings, murders, outdated methods of treating women, an obsolete approach to governing society. Many who participate in these activities are British.’
The general also called for the British government to send weapons to help deal with ISIS, warning that a failure to act would increase the threat of terrorism in Britain.
He said: ‘If ISIS is allowed to expand, these terrorists, having put their skills to the test in my country, will return to their homelands, perhaps to the UK, and continue on their pernicious path of destruction…
‘We are at a critical juncture in our fight against violent extremism and hope that the UK and US can shrug off their fear of supporting us. A failure to actively support the FSA now will lead to ISIS’ successes internationally.’
He added: ‘The FSA can only go so far with the little we have. The UK and US governments must support us to defeat terrorism in Syria and prevent it from being exported to Europe and the US.’
Protests: Mourners chant slogans against the Al Qaeda breakaway group ISIS while carrying a flag-draped coffin of Ahmed Marzouk an Iraqi officer who was killed by them last week
Britain provides non-lethal and technical support such as body armour and communications to moderate Syrian rebels, The Times said, but has ruled out handing over weapons for fear of the falling into the hands of extremists.
Former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell has called for a new debate on policy over Syria, saying: ‘It’s high time that we revisited the issue of Syria in the House of Commons.’
JIHADIST GROUP CONSIDERED SO EXTREME AL QAEDA CONDEMN THEM
An Iraqi policeman inspects the site of a suicide attack carried out by ISIS
ISIS (or ISIL) is a pro-Al Qaeda jihadist group that many feared was taking an iron grip over parts of Syria.
The group was formed in April 2013 and grew out of Al Qaeda’s affiliate organisation in Iraq. It has since become one of the main jihadist groups fighting government forces in Syria.
The final letter in the acronym ISIS stems from the Arabic word ‘al-Sham’. This can mean the Levant, Syria or even Damascus but in the context of the global jihad it refers to the Levant.
Its precise size is unknown, but it is thought to include thousands of fighters, including many foreign jihadists.
Analysts say non-Syrians constitute a majority of ISIS’s elite fighter corps and are disproportionately represented in its leadership.
It took over the city of Al-Reqqa after rebels overran the city in March 2013. It was the first provincial capital to fall under rebel control.
It also has a presence in a number of towns close to the Turkish border in the north of the country, and has gained a reputation for brutal rule in the areas that it controls.
The group has been operating independently of other jihadist groups such as the Nusra Front and has had a tense relationship with other rebels in Syria. Al Qaeda refuse to deal with them.
In July, a commander of the Western-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) was reportedly shot dead by ISIS fighters in the coastal province of Lattakia.
There were also reports of deadly clashes between the two groups in the north-western province of Idlib. ISIS also seized the northern town of Azaz from the FSA on 18 September.
There has also been friction with other Islamists. In November 2013, ISIS was accused of killing a prominent member of the Syrian Islamist rebel group Ahrar al-Sham.
