DHAKA: Syrian jihadist group Jabhat al-Nusra, also known as the Nusra Front, has announced it has split from al-Qaeda.

Leader Abu Mohammed al-Julani, in his first recorded message, said its new name would be Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (Front for the Conquest of Syria/the Levant).

He said that the move was intended to remove the pretext used by powers, including the US and Russia, to bomb Syrians, BBC reports on Friday (July 29).

The US responded by saying it saw no reason to change its view of the group as a terrorist organisation.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said that the US also had increasing concerns that the group intended to attack the West.

‘The United States continues to assess that Nusra Front leaders maintain the intent to conduct eventual attacks in and against the West and there continues to be increasing concern about Nusra Front's growing capacity for external operations that could threaten both the United States and Europe,’ he said.

Al-Qaeda said earlier that it supported the split. Its second in command, Ahmed Hassan Abu al-Khayr, said the organisation had instructed ‘the leadership of the Nusra Front to go ahead with what protects the interests of Islam and Muslims and what protects jihad’ in Syria.

The message included a brief comment from al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri saying: ‘The brotherhood of Islam is stronger than any organisational links that change and go away.’

In the recording aired by al-Jazeera's Arabic news channel, Mr al-Julani thanked the ‘commanders of al-Qaeda for having understood the need to break ties’.

He said that the decision was made to ‘expose the deception of the international community, namely the US and Russia, in their relentless bombardment and displacement of the Muslim masses of Syria under the pretext of bombing al-Nusra Front’.

BDST: 1417 HRS, July 29, 2016
SAS/AKA