Twitter erupted with rumors that Nusra Front may formally split from Al-Qaeda in the coming days Sunday. Multiple sources reported that the Syrian militant group and Al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate is presently discussing the move internally, and may opt to split. In a series of tweets, noteable Syria analyst Charles Lister speculated that if a split were to occur it may not go smoothly and could involve only part of the group splitting, nothing at all, or a myriad of other scenarios.
The rumors produced remarkably hilarious tweets, a few of the best of which are below.
In an effort to reform its image, Jabhat Al-Nusra to cut ties with Al-Qaeda, pledges to support intersectional feminism and LGBT rights.
— Nader (@DarthNader) July 24, 2016
@EjmAlrai @JeffWhite25 @rmslim @BarackObama
— Dr Shahid (@Dr_Shahid) July 24, 2016
I Heard Nusra Is Divorcing Al-Qaeda?! :-)
Some made political points as well. Here, @Ali_Kourani argues that Nusra Front would remain radical Islamists if the split were to occur, but as they’d no longer be officially Al-Qaeda, some western observers would support them.
What al-Nusra cutting ties with al-Qaeda means: they will still behead civilians but Michael Weiss gets to call them moderate rebels now.
— Ali. (@Ali_Kourani) July 24, 2016
Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri appeared to give Nusra Front permission to split from Al-Qaeda in May of this year.
All this being said, these are only rumors up until now. Whether a Nusra Front-Al-Qaeda “divorce” is truly in the works remains to be seen.
Adam Lucente
