Al-Qaeda says it has no militant group links

In an attempt to reassert its authority over fragmented Islamist rebels in Syria's civil war, Al-Qaeda says it has no link with the small but powerful rebel group ISIL.

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Istanbul: Al-Qaeda's central leadership has officially cut ties with a powerful jihadist group that has flourished in the chaos of the civil war in Syria.

The animosity between the group, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, and other rebel groups has fuelled the deadliest infighting yet between the foes of President Bashar al-Assad and has sapped their campaign to depose him. ISIL is rushing to build an Islamic state on its own terms, antagonising the wider rebel movement.

Though the isolation of the group could lead to greater unity among other rebel forces, it is unlikely to assuage fears in the US and elsewhere about the increasing power of extremists in Syria.

ISIL fighters in Raaqa, Syria.

ISIL fighters in Raaqa, Syria. Photo: AP

The break between al-Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, announced on jihadist websites, served both sides, said William McCants, a scholar of militant Islam at the Washington-based Brookings Institution

Al-Qaeda cut ties with a group that was besmirching the al-Qaeda name among other militants, while ISIL bolstered its image as a force to reckon with.

''[ISIL] is now officially the biggest and baddest global jihadi group on the planet,'' Mr McCants said. ''Nothing says 'hard-core' like being cast out by al-Qaeda.''

The rise of the group has largely reflected what many analysts see as the diminished clout of the original al-Qaeda organisation and the rise of affiliates and other militant groups that share its ideology but run their own affairs.

Rifts between al-Qaeda and the group emerged last year, when al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri ordered it to withdraw from Syria and leave the insurgency there to be run by the official al-Qaeda affiliate the Nusra Front.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant refused. Its haste to seize resources such as oil fields and border crossings brought it into conflict with other rebels, and widespread clashes between the sides in recent weeks have left thousands dead across northern and eastern Syria, according to partisan activist groups.

That violence has led to harsh criticisms of the group from other rebel leaders who consider it just as dangerous as Dr Assad.

On Monday, an ISIL bomber blew himself up at a rebel base in northern Syria, killing 16 fighters and wounding 20, activists said.

Such attacks have led an influential Saudi cleric who is based in Syria and was once close to the group to disown it and call on its fighters to defect.

In a video posted online on Sunday, the cleric, Abdullah al-Muheiseni, said one of the group's suicide attacks had killed a 12-year-old boy. Another destroyed a water facility and killed a civilian.

''That brother who blew himself up, what is his destiny now before the almighty God?'' Mr Muheiseni said.

In a statement posted on jihadist forums, al-Qaeda accused ISIL of not working with other groups, naming its own leaders and trying to impose its own authority.

The statement called on all groups in Syria to work together to spare the blood of Muslims and to remain loyal to the teachings of Osama bin Laden.

US intelligence and counterterrorism analysts said the group's increasing economic independence - largely through revenue from commandeered oil fields, border tolls, extortion and granary sales - had allowed it to thrive without links to al-Qaeda leaders in Pakistan.

''Although the al-Qaeda brand still carries weight among jihadists worldwide, [ISIL] has never been dependent on the al-Qaeda core for resources or direction, so the tangible impact of the decision may not be that significant,'' a counterterrorism official said on condition of anonymity.

The official said the Nusra Front was likely to try to benefit from its exclusive al-Qaeda credentials. Inside Syria, however, those credentials appeared to be less significant than the Nusra Front's efforts to maintain good relations with other rebel groups.

''We have no problems with Nusra and we fight with them sometimes in the same trench,'' a rebel fighter, Nader Ramandan, said in a Skype conversation from northern Idlib province.

While he disagreed with the Nusra Front's ideology, he said, he did not consider the group a threat and hoped it would help get rid of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

Nearly three years of civil war in Syria have left more than 130,000 people dead and destabilised neighbouring countries, with suicide bomb attacks spreading to Lebanon.

New York Times