Alwaght- The US continues supporting Saudi-backed Ahrar al-Sham terrorist group that has committed heinous crimes against Syrian civilians.
“Ahrar al-Sham is not a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization. It is part of this vetted group of opposition forces that are part of the HNC [High Negotiating Committee]. That was process mostly led by Saudi Arabia, but with the consent of other members of ISSG, and that includes Russia,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner said on Tuesday.
Ahrar al-Sham, one of the oldest and largest terrorist groups operating in Syria since 2011, is mostly active in the country's northwestern part. The group is allied with al-Nusra Front, an offshoot of al-Qaeda terror network in Syria.
The terror group that belongs to the Saudi- HNC is considered a party to the Syrian ceasefire, negotiated by Russia and the US.
On May 13, however, Al-Sham fighters raided the village of Al-Zara, killing Dozens and injuring many more during the bloody terrorism similar to a systemized genocide perpetrated against civilians.
Three days earlier, White House blocked a Russian proposal at the UN to delegitimize Ahrar ash-Sham and another group called Jaysh al-Islam, over their regular violations of the ceasefire. Britain, France and Ukraine sided with the US.
Jaysh al-Islam is a of mix of over 55 armed factions, formed after outbreak of Syrian crisis. It started work under title Saraya al-Islam as a military brigade aiming at fighting the Syrian government.
Present in many Syrian regions, Jaysh al-Islam took part in many terror operations in a variety of Syrian cities. It never hid its partnership with al-Nusra Front. Its former Commander-in-Chief Zahran Alloush said that “al-Nusra Front is a fighting faction in Syria with which we worked in an array of battles and we observed their practice, jihad and diligence, and we hail al-Nusra Front and do not consider them Khawarij (Outsider from religion).
Asked to comment on a report that Labib al Nahhas, a senior official of Ahrar Al-Sham, visited Washington in December 2015, Toner cited “privacy concerns” on Monday and said he would follow up.
"I do know this individual certainly did not have any meetings that I’m aware of at the State Department,” he said on Tuesday. “I can’t speak to whether we were aware or not aware of his visit or entry into the country. I just don’t have that information.”
While condemning the atrocities in Zara, Toner attempted to diminish them by saying, “frankly, we have seen similar attacks on the part of the regime,” referring to the government in Damascus the US wants to see overthrown by the rebels.
"How many villages do they have to massacre before they become bad guys?” one reporter asked, but received no response. Neither did the reporter who asked what qualified Ahrar Al-Sham as “moderates,” when their ideology was no different from ISIS or Al-Nusra Front.
"I don’t have the criteria, other than the fact that they were believed to be a part of the viable Syrian opposition, and that they exhibited a desire to play a positive, constructive role to resolving the conflict,” Toner said.
Asked whether the US would pressure the group to abide by the ceasefire, Toner was noncommittal.
"We’re not giving them a yellow card,” he said.
