Nearly five years into the Syrian uprising, the conflict has turned so internecine, it’s hard to keep up with the opposition factions that fragment, coalesce, fight and collaborate with each other. Outside the rarified world of Syria watchers, militant leaders who inhabit this jigsaw of mutating groups are even harder to distinguish.
Zahran Alloush though had his Hello Kitty moment, which earned him a few valuable headlines and column space in the mainstream press.
That was back in the summer of 2014, when the leader of the Jaish al-Islam -- or Army of Islam – gave a rousing speech to a group of fighters assembled on the outskirts of Damascus. With his statuesque frame clad in fatigues, a semiautomatic handgun in his holster and a scowl crossing his handsome face, Alloush looked every bit the seasoned rebel commander.
Except for an incongruous pink Hello Kitty notepad spotted on his desk, which for some reason captured the headline-writers in a number of news organisations such as The Daily Mail. “The moment Syrian rebel leader delivers rousing battle cry to Islamist militants with a pink Hello Kitty notebook,” said the British tabloid above a photo spread highlighting the incriminating notepad, which the article noted, “somewhat diminished” Alloush’s “martial image”.
There’s little evidence that effete stationery can chip away at a commander’s military stature. But on Christmas Day, Alloush was undoubtedly -- and fatally -- diminished when a missile strike in the Eastern Ghouta region on the outskirts of Damascus killed the Army of Islam leader and a number of senior rebel commanders.
Initial reports claimed Alloush was killed in a Russian strike, but the Syrian government later claimed responsibility for the air force attack.
His death could have a profound effect on peace talks, scheduled to reconvene under UN auspices in Geneva on January 25 -- exactly a month after the regime’s decapitation strike in Eastern Ghouta.
“He was a very important figure, one that was synonymous with the Army of Islam. His death can have an impact on the peace talks,” according to Wassim Nasr, FRANCE 24’s expert on jihadist groups.
“His group was one of the biggest groups that signed the Saudi agreement,” explained Nasr, referring to a Syrian opposition statement signed earlier this month in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, that set out a possible framework for future peace talks between the Syrian regime and opposition groups. “This could have a major impact on his group and on the application of the talks on the territory he controlled, which is at the doors of Damascus.” .........http://www.france24.com/en/20151228-syria-death-rebel-zahran-alloush-haunts-peace-talks
28/12/15
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Related:
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Saudi-backed terrorism: Syria's Islam Army leader killed by Russian airstrikes
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