Australia puts group fighting Assad in Syria on terrorist list

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The al-Nursa Front has come to notice recently because it is a jhadist fighting group in Syria that has had great success on the battlefield. It has managed seize a number of Syrian military bases and put a significant dent in Assad's campaign of "Death from Above." It has also gained the approval of a growing number of Syrians because it has shown both great courage and great integrity in dealing with the people. This is in spite of its strict, fundamentalist Islamic beliefs which are not supported by most Syrians and stand in stark contrast to the secular Syria most revolutionaries are seeking to build.

But AFAIK, the al Nusra Front has conducted no operations, military or otherwise, in Australia, has not murdered or abducted any Australians, or made any threats against Australia, and yet the government of Australian has named the anti-Assad fighting group the newest addition to its terrorist list. Of course, the Australians are merely following the lead of the United States on this, as is usually the case. No doubt, they are responding to a request from the Obama Administration to back Obama's play. He put the al Nusra Front on the US terrorist blacklist in December.

Assad is losing the war he started against his own people. Even now he is faced with a whole new crop of high level defections as he loses more of Damascus and the battle creeps closer to the presidential palace, the year-long siege of Homs has finally been broken as his opposition begins to set up an interim government. More and more, he is dependent of outside supporters to keep him in power. More and bigger weapons from Russia, more support from Lebanon, more fighters from Hezbollah, Iran and even Iraq. All of this supporters, both overt and hidden are being called upon to help him put down his people's revolt.

For the US to come in militarily on the side of Bashar al-Assad would be unthinkable, given the mask the US has been wearing in this struggle, but it would seem that a basis is being laid for the US to come into this struggle militarily against some of the most extreme elements fighting Assad in the name of fighting the "War on Terror."

When the news I reported yesterday, that the CIA is planning for drone strikes against jhadist fighting Assad in Syria is taken together with this news out of close ally Australia today, it is hard to come to any other conclusion. From The Sydney Morning Herald National Times we have this report:

Group fighting Assad put on terrorism listMarch 18, 2013

The Australian government has placed on its terrorist blacklist a prominent Islamic group fighting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

Foreign Affairs Minister Bob Carr has announced Australia will list the Al-Nusra Front as a terrorist organisation to try to starve the group of funding and support.

The listing means anyone in Australia who makes funds or assets available to the group could face up to 10 years in jail.

Assets known to be owned or controlled by Al-Nusra must be frozen and reported immediately to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
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Unknown before the uprising, the Al-Nusra Front since mid-2012 has become the spearhead of the insurgency with the mainstream rebel Free Syrian Army.

Senator Carr said the Al-Nusra Front, which has 5000 fighters in Syria, had a history of suicide attacks and bombings.

''I'm advised Al-Nusra is active against the Syrian military but also against civilian targets,'' he said. ''There is no place for violent extremist groups such as Al-Nusra in Syria or elsewhere.''

The Islamist jihadist faction has captured army bases and is believed to have set up a religious council to administer rebel-controlled areas in eastern Syria.

Senator Carr said there was evidence the Al-Nusra Front had direct links with al-Qaeda in Iraq, which supplied it with weapons, recruits and equipment.

The US placed the group on its terrorism blacklist in December, citing its links to al-Qaeda.

Uthman Badar, media representative of Hizb ut-Tahrir Australia, thinks that Australia has an Islamiphobic foreign policy and had this to say:

“We remind the Foreign Minister, first and foremost, that he has no place dictating what should or should not happen in Syria. Australia should mind its own business and cease interfering in the affairs of the Muslim World. We also remind him that he is in no position on lecturing others about terrorism given the horrendous record of his own government and its allies, greater terrorists than whom the 21st century has not seen.”

“The juxtaposition of Australia’s policy on Syria and Burma reveal clearly the anti-Islamic nature of its foreign policy. On Syria, Australia has watched on from the sidelines, offering little more than rhetoric, as the Assad regime has butchered the people of Syria in the tens of thousands and in the most inhumane of ways. Now, it seeks to take a stand against sincere Muslims groups defending themselves against the brutality of the Assad regime. It is clear that the Australia’s position has little to do with terrorism. Rather, it is based on its desire to suffocate the Syrian uprising and prevent it from reaching its natural end in the establishment of the Islamic state.

On the other hand, Australia rolls out the red carpet for proven terrorists such as President Thein Sein whose hands have not yet dried from the blood of the Royhinga Muslims of Arakan province which his regime spilt with impunity less than a year ago. The Australian Government is sending a clear message that it is not only an enemy of Muslims itself, but also a close friend of all those who have enmity for Muslims.”

“The question is do Australian policymakers, who carry this anti-Islam policy, really care about the true interests of their own people, in the short and long-term? Are they really aware of the consequences of waging war against a great nation like the Muslims whose return to leading the world is imminent?”

Media Office
Hizb ut-Tahrir Australia
18 March 2013

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