Syrian Rebel Factions Disavowing US-Backed Coalition En Masse

Coalition Leader: They're Stealing Revolution

A Wednesday statement disavowing the rebel Syrian National Coalition (SNC) as a failed attempt at an umbrella group and calling for a new organization of rebels seems to be taking hold, with more than 30 rebel factions now officially on board in disavowing the faction.

The statement was backed by a number of al-Qaeda groups, including Jabhat al-Nusra, but seems to be gaining currency across the rebellion, as more and more groups look at the pro-US SNC as an ineffectual group with little clout on the ground.

That’s the long-standing knock on the SNC, whose leadership claims to be a “government-in-exile” but seems to spend most of its time shuffling its own self-proclaimed cabinet back and forth.

Ahmad Jabra, the latest SNC leader, angrily condemned the statement, saying that the rebels who don’t support him are plotting to “steal our revolution,” going on to claim that the Assad government was behind the factions that don’t endorse the SNC.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.