FSA Rejects Calls for Jihad

As the jihadist elements fighting Bashar al-Assad become stronger, the largest faction in the rebel forces rejects their ideas of holy war. The Free Syrian Army has eschewed the calls for jihad levied by groups like Ansar al-Sunna. They still hope for a secularist coalition to depose the dictator.

"Our official position as the Supreme Military Command of the Free Syrian Army... is that we thank them but we reject any calls for jihad in Syria," FSA political and media coordinator Louay Muqdad told AFP.
"We reject any presence of foreign fighters, regardless of where they are from. We have said that what we are missing in Syria is weapons, not men," he added.