Al-Nusra Front denies plans to break away from al-Qaeda

Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate al-Nusra Front on Monday reaffirmed its allegiance to the global militant network and denied any plan to break away.

In a statement released Monday night on Twitter, Al-Nusra said it "completely denies reports of a break-up with al-Qaeda."

Nusra's comments follow weeks of social media speculation of a potential split and news reports in which Nusra sources suggested that Qatar was offering the group money and arms to split with al-Qaeda.

Nusra, in the statement, denies "all reports of a meeting with Qatari or other intelligence services or seeking Qatari or Gulf funding, as this is contrary to the principles on which Al-Nusra has been based from the start".

An official branch of al-Qaeda since April 2013, the group dominates a swathe of northwest Syria despite months of US-led coalition airstrikes.

In addition to fighting President Bashar al-Assad's government, it has clashed with Western-backed rebels.

And while al-Nusra originally seemed to be fighting with the Islamic State group in Syria, by February 2014, tensions grow so severe that al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri disavowed IS, saying the al-Qaeda was not responsible for its actions and had not connection to the group. 

The idea of a al-Nusra split with al-Qaeda emerged also in early 2014 when al-Nusra militants in the eastern province of Deir ez-Zour allied with anti-government rebels supported by the West and oil-rich Gulf monarchies in the face of gains by IS.

"But it fizzled out", said Thomas Pierret, an expert at the University of Edinburgh.

"Al-Nusra's internal dynamics since the summer of 2014 do not point at all to a moderate tendency and a break with al-Qaeda," he added.

'Forcing their hand' 

"The 'leak' probably came from Qatar which seems to want to force the hand of al-Nusra," Pierret said.

Al-Nusra was formed in January 2012 by militants who had previously fought in Iraq, including its chief Abu Mohamed al-Jolani.

The group's military chief Abu Hammam al-Shami and several top commanders were last week reported to have been killed in Syria, although there was contradictory information on the circumstances.

Syria's conflict began in March 2011 as a popular revolt seeking democratic change, but later evolved into a full-blown civil war drawing foreign fighters.

According to experts, there are signs that Qatar wants to bring together al-Nusra with rebels who it considers to be more moderate, provided that the group renounces its links with al-Qaeda.

But "the overwhelming majority of al-Nusra members want to stay in al-Qaeda, particularly foreign fighters who represent at least one-third of the organisation," said Romain Caillet, a French expert on militants.

"Nusra has suffered heavy blows, but that does not prevent it growing and taking root," he added. 

"When it is too weak, it allies with other rebel groups such as in (Syria's second city of) Aleppo or in the south. But when it is the strongest, it discards rivals, like in the northwestern province of Idlib where it wants to create an emirate," mirroring IS's declaration of an Islamic "caliphate" in areas under its control.

According to a Lebanese security source, there was a debate within al-Nusra about a possible break away a few months ago.

But Jolani and other key figures "refused for fear of losing their popularity".

They were also concerned that "if the group is funded by Qatar, it will be required by Doha to be on the front line in the fight against IS, which al-Nusra does not want", the source added.

Current and former members of the group told Middle East Eye that the organisation is split over how it regards IS. Some Nusra fighters respect the group while others regard it as a pack of morally bereft terrorists.