Syrian Islamists reject new opposition bloc
The main Islamist rebel groups in Aleppo on Monday rejected the newly formed opposition bloc.
We, the fighting squads of Aleppo city and province, unanimously reject the conspiratorial project called the National Coalition and announce our consensus to establish an Islamic state" in Syria, a spokesman announced in an Internet video.
"We reject any external coalitions or councils imposed on us at home from any party whatsoever," he said.
The unidentified speaker sat at the head of a long conference table with at least 30 other men and a black Islamist flag on the wall.
He listed 14 armed groups as signatories to the statement, including the Al-Nusra Front, Ahrar al-Sham and Liwa al-Tawhid.
The Ahrar al-Sham group rejected the proclamation on its official web page, however, saying that its leadership did not endorse the statement.
The Al-Nusra Front, which has become a formidable fighting force, has claimed the majority of suicide bombing attacks in Syria s deadly 20-month-old conflict.
After the statement another man held up a Koran, saying forcefully to the camera: "Make this your constitution."
Abdel Jabbar al-Okaidi, the head of the main rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) in the embattled northern city of Aleppo, told AFP that the statement did not represent the opinion of all rebel groups in the province.
"These groups represent a number of military factions on the ground and reflect their position, but not all military forces in Aleppo agree with this," the defected former army colonel told AFP by phone.
"The military council has announced its support for the National Coalition and is collaborating with them," Okaidi added.
The new National Coalition aims to present a united front to the international community and is lobbying for weapons aid to help topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad s regime.
On the ground, fighting flared along the Turkish border after rebels took control of a large army base in the northern province of Aleppo that had been besieged for weeks.
Six rebels killed in clashes with Kurdish fighters and the head of the local Kurdish People s Assembly was shot dead in the town of Ras al-Ain, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.
The clashes erupted after a Kurdish demonstration demanding that all rebels not from the town leave. The insurgents refused and attacked Kurdish militiamen at a checkpoint, with nine wounded on both sides, the Observatory said.
The Kurdish fighters belonged to the People s Defence Units, the armed wing of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) which is linked to Turkey s rebel Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
A Ras al-Ain activist said tension has been high between rebels and the PYD since the insurgents took the town last week.
"The rebels burned a flag of the (Kurdish) Democratic Union Party and the Kurds reacted by burning the FSA flag," Havidar told AFP.
Rebels accuse Kurdish groups of negotiating directly with Assad s regime, while Kurds question why the rebels entered a safe area.
"The Kurdish regions provide safe havens to thousands of refugees from Damascus, Hama and Homs," PYD leader Saleh Muslim told AFP by phone.
"We are not looking for a confrontation with the FSA, but its members who provoked the incident today in Ras al-Ain receive their orders from Turkey," he said.
Fighting also erupted at a border post near the town of Kasab in Latakia province, the Observatory said.
