Syria wants al-Qaeda front on UN blacklist

The Syrian Foreign Ministry has called on the United Nations Security Council to class the militant al-Nusra Front as an al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group.

In letters to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council, the Syrian Foreign Ministry said Damascus expects the UN to fulfill its role to safeguard global security and class the foreign-sponsored group as terrorist, Syria’s state news agency SANA reported on Thursday.

The foreign-backed militants have formally pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani, the head of the al-Nusra, said the group was loyal to the al-Qaeda chief in an audio message on Wednesday.

Jawlani’s remarks came a day after the leader of al-Qaeda-inspired Islamic State of Iraq network, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, announced merger with the al-Nusra Front to play an even greater role in the crisis in Syria.

Baghdadi said in a recording, “It is time to declare to the Levant and to the world that the al-Nusra Front is simply a branch of the Islamic State of Iraq.”

The Syrian ministry added such statements prove previous warnings of Damascus against the relationship between the armed terrorist groups and al-Qaeda.

The letters further highlighted the dangers of the international community’s inattention toward the crimes perpetrated by the al-Nusra Front and its allies, including the terrorist Free Syrian army, in Syria.

The West has been widely criticized for its double standard when it comes to dealing with terrorist groups.

While al-Qaeda-linked groups have been listed as terrorist entities under sanctions by the United Nations, militants in Syria, including those belonging to the al-Nusra Front, have been receiving all forms of support from the West.

The al-Nusra Front has been behind many of the deadly bombings targeting both civilians and government institutions across Syria since the beginning of violence in March 2011.