The al-Sham statement "argues that, while cooperation with non-Muslims during wars can be permissible and is generally subject to debate, the US role in recent weeks has changed the situation," wrote Hassan Hassan, author of a book on the rise of the Islamic State, on his Facebook.
In a nod that the confrontation seems to be coming to a head, al-Sham released a statement that called on its fighters and supporters to fight against all forces trying to enter the city.
"The FIA neglects to mention that, according to declarations by one of its own vice-presidents to the media, the world council's decision was rather the outcome of secret negotiations on the eve of the sham hearing," Briatore's statement said.
Ahrar al-Sham, however, issued a statement on Thursday formally withdrawing from the conference over the participation of some political opposition members "linked to the regime" and the underrepresentation of armed brigades, as well as the conference's failure to put emphasis on the Syrian people's "Muslim identity".
Prompted by increasingly loud whispers on Tuesday that a portion of Ahrar al-Sham had indeed agreed to merge with JFS, a cohort of activists and Islamic scholars connected to Ahrar al-Sham had begun composing a statement of warning to the group, demanding that it refuse a merger with the de facto Al-Qaeda affiliate "for the sake of the revolution" – according to three of its planned authors.
However the anti-Adani group, Wangan and Jagalingou Family Council, has released a statement describing it as a "sham meeting which has engineered a sham outcome".
I wish I had enough space to reprint in its entirety Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky's closing statement, as his latest sham trial in Russia came to an end earlier this week.
A Democratic spokesman, Shams M. Tarek, said in a statement that much of the shift merely reflected the natural affinity between the Democratic Party and particular constituencies.
A spokesperson said in a video statement that Ahrar al-Sham would now be led by Hashem al-Sheik, otherwise known as Abu Jaber and that it would continue to battle both Assad and IS.
