Al Qaeda's propaganda arm, As Sahab, released an audio message from emir Ayman al Zawahiri earlier today. The audio file, which was spliced together with images from the Sunni jihad in Syria, is just over six minutes long. It was released via social media, including on As Sahab's Telegram channel. Zawahiri warns that the Syrian war shouldn't be considered an exclusively "nationalist" effort, because this is what the Sunni jihadists' enemies want. Instead, he said the Syrian conflict should be viewed as the "cause of the entire Ummah," or worldwide community of Muslims. Zawahiri's comments are potentially interesting in light of Al Nusrah Front's rebranding last year, and then the group's merger with several others to form Hay'at Tahrir al Sham ("Assembly for the Liberation of the Levant") in January. Various al Qaeda actors and other jihadists inside Syria have debated how to best portray themselves to the world. Al Nusrah's relaunch in July 2016 was blessed beforehand by Zawahiri's deputy, but some al Qaeda figures rejected it. Zawahiri does not specifically mention Hay'at Tahrir al Sham or any other group in Syria, so we can only speculate if he is commenting on some specific debate within jihadist circles. But that appears likely. Zawahiri does explicitly endorse the insurgency in Syria, saying that it is a "guerrilla" war and the jihadists should not focus on holding territory at this time. Instead, Zawahiri says, they must focus on weakening their enemies. "To begin with, I would like to tell our beloved people in Sham [the Levant] that your wounds are the wounds of the entire Ummah, and your pain is the pain of the entire Ummah. You are in our prayers at every moment, and we wish to sacrifice our souls for you," Zawahiri begins his message, which was released with an English transcript. "If anything stands in our way," Zawahiri continues, "it is the fact that we are engaged in fighting the same Crusader enemy which you are up against, though on a different front." The al Qaeda chieftain claims that the "only reason" Sunni Muslims in Syria "are being targeted" is that they "want Islam to rule over the land of Sham." The "International Satanic Alliance will never accept this, and it will spare no effort to stop this Islamic tide," Zawahiri says. Consistent with al Qaeda's messaging in the past, Zawahiri portrays the US and the West as being in league with Iran and Bashar al Assad's regime. Indeed, he advises the people of Syria to "prepare" themselves "for a protracted war against the Crusaders and their Rafidhi [derogatory term for Shiites and Iran] and Nusayri [meaning the Assad regime] allies." Zawahiri praises the people for having "taken up the path of jihad in the way of Allah to raise the flag of Islam and jihad on the land of Sham, and to liberate it from oppression, tyranny and corruption." "So do not backtrack," he says. "Know no wavering or compromise. Die honorably, but never accept a life of humiliation." The al Qaeda head reiterates his organization's call for unity within the insurgency. Since the beginning of the war, with a few exceptions, al Qaeda's men have attempted to remain as closely allied with other rebel groups as possible. This strategy was upset by the rise of Abu Bakr al Baghdadi's Islamic State in 2013 and 2014, but al Qaeda's arm continued to cooperate with other Islamist, jihadist and Free Syrian Army-branded outfits. "Unite and close your ranks with your Muslim brothers and mujahideen not just in Sham, but the entire world, for it is a single Crusader campaign being waged against Muslims the world over," Zawahiri says. He then pivots to a critique of anyone who thinks the Syrian war can be separated from the jihad elsewhere around the globe. Speaking to the jihadists in Syria, Zawahiri says that some "wish to deceive you into buying the myth that only if you were to change your jihad to an exclusively nationalist Syrian struggle, [then] the leading international criminals would be pleased with you." "My people and my brothers in Sham," Zawahiri says, "I would like to offer here a few words of advice as a reminder to you and myself." Then, somewhat cryptically, he adds: "We must constantly review our actions, and retract ourselves from everything which is capable of hindering victory. For we can never be better than the Companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him), who were denied victory when they disobeyed. Critical reassessment and correction of mistakes is the first step in the patch to victory."
