Jihadi group's gains open door for Assad

Rebels fear he has pretext for attack

This Sunday, July 9, 2017 photo, released by Ibaa news agency, the communications arm of the al Qaeda-linked Levant Liberation Committee, outlet that is consistent with independent AP reporting, shows al-Qaida-linked fighters after they detained alleged members of the Islamic State group in the northwestern Syrian village of Sarmin in Idlib province.  (Ibaa News Agency, via AP)
This Sunday, July 9, 2017 photo, released by Ibaa news agency, the communications arm of the al Qaeda-linked Levant Liberation Committee, outlet that is consistent with independent AP reporting, shows al-Qaida-linked fighters after they detained alleged members of the Islamic State group in the northwestern Syrian village of Sarmin in Idlib province. (Ibaa News Agency, via AP)

BEIRUT -- Syrian rebels and activists are warning that an al-Qaida-linked jihadi group is on the verge of snuffing out what remains of the country's uprising in northwest Syria, after the extremists seized control of the opposition-held regional capital, Idlib, over the weekend.

With the jihadis cementing their authority over the city and its province, also called Idlib, Syrian President Bashar Assad has been supplied with a useful pretext for a long-expected assault against the rebellious province: that the uprising against him is largely driven by Islamists and terrorists.

"There is the real possibility that because of the Nusra Front's domination, the regime will enter the area with international approval," said Lt. Col. Fares Bayoush, a longtime opponent of Assad, who has been leading a rebel faction in north Syria.

The Nusra Front is one of the many names for the al-Qaida affiliate that now heads the Hay'at Tahrir al Sham militant alliance -- Arabic for Levant Liberation Committee -- that seized the city of Idlib, as well as two border crossings with Turkey, to feed its coffers.

In July last year, the Nusra Front changed its name to Jabhat Fatah al-Sham and said it was cutting all its links with al-Qaida, a move seen by many as an attempt to improve its image and market itself as a faction defending the Syrian people. The U.S. rejects the group's claim that it has severed ties with al-Qaida.

It abides by a deeply conservative code for ethics and jurisprudence and tolerates no dissent -- leading many who live under its rule to complain that it is no better than the government they sought to overthrow in 2011.

The fresh gains by the Levant Liberation Committee in northern Syria come at a time when its rival, the Islamic State militant group, is suffering defeats at the hands of U.S.-backed Iraqi and Syrian forces in both countries.

A Section on 07/26/2017

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