Al Qaeda breaks link with Syrian militant group ISIL

BY OLIVER HOLMES
BEIRUT Mon Feb 3, 2014 8:33am EST

(Reuters) - Al Qaeda's general command said on Monday it had no links with the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), in an apparent attempt to reassert its authority over fragmented Islamist fighters in Syria's civil war.

After a month of rebel infighting, al Qaeda disavowed the increasingly independent ISIL in a move likely to bolster a rival Islamist group, the Nusra Front, as al Qaeda's official proxy in Syria.

The switch is seen as an attempt to redirect the Islamist effort towards unseating President Bashar al-Assad rather than waste resources in fighting other rebels, and could be intended to shift the strategic balance at a time when government forces are increasingly active on the battlefield. It could also embolden Nusra in its dispute with ISIL.

Overall, the three-year-old war however remains largely deadlocked, with Syria fragmented into areas controlled by the warring parties.

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