Beirut--Al-Qaeda's Syria affiliate would not use Syria as a launching pad for attacks on the West, its chief said in a wide-randing televised interview late Wednesday.
Without showing his face, Abu Mohamed al-Jolani said his group, Al-Nusra Front, would protect Syrian minorities that renounced the regime.
The interview was Jolani's second with Qatari-owned Al-Jazeera TV since a similar appearance in 2013. The interviewer, Ahmad Mansur, said it was broadcast "from liberated lands in Syria."
All that could be seen of Jolani was a black shawl, a plaid shirt, and gesturing hands.
"The instructions that we have are not to use al-Sham as a base to launch attacks on the West or Europe, so as not to muddy the current war," Jolani said.
"Our mission in Syria is the downfall of the regime, its symbols, and its allies, like Hezbollah," Jolani said, referring to the powerful Shiite movement fighting alongside the Bashar al-Assad regime.
But if the United States kept attacking them, he said, "all options are open. Anyone has the right to self-defence."
Jolani also denied the existence of the "Khorasan group," which the US had said was an offshoot of Al-Qaeda that was plotting attacks against the US.
Nevertheless, he lambasted the US for its air raids against Al-Nusra in Syria and accused it of coordinating with the Assad regime on the use of air space.
"America is propping up the regime," Jolani charged, leaning forward in an ornate golden-crusted chair.
AFP
