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Syria becomes largest home to al Qaeda; jihadists find safe haven to plot attacksSyria has become al Qaeda’s largest safe haven, with more than 10,000 fighters who outnumber the terrorist network’s core organization in Pakistan and its affiliates in North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.The development, analysts say, provides al Qaeda with a new base from which to attack Western targets, attract recruits to its jihadist doctrine, finance its operations and expand its influence throughout the Middle East.In addition, the terrorists are consolidating their hold in Syria — generating revenue by selling oil confiscated from wells in the eastern part of the country, setting up Islamic courts and other means of government, and enforcing borders with neighboring countries, the U.S. ambassador to Syria said Thursday.“Their control of those borders delayed our aid deliveries into Syria,” Ambassador Robert Ford told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “The delays were because we had to wait until our friends in the opposition recaptured border points so we could get aid back in to them.”“They are — whether intentionally or not — they are almost acting as allies of the regime. And it is a huge problem for our friends in the moderate opposition,” Mr. Ford said.The growth and strength of al Qaeda in Syria poses problems not only in the 2-year-old civil war, with much infighting among rebel groups, but also in establishing a democracy if the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad falls.“No matter where the Syrian conflict ends up going, no matter who ends up winning, al Qaeda will stay in Syria for a long period of time,” said Charles Lister, of the global security analysis firm IHS Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Center in London.An estimated 10,000 to 12,000 members of al Qaeda and its affiliates are in Syria, said a U.S. government official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss security issues.Al Qaeda’s “core” in Pakistan and Afghanistan numbers about 300 members. Its branch in the Arabian Peninsula has about 1,000 followers, and its affiliate in North Africa claims 300 to 1,000 fighters, said Robin Simcox, a terrorism analyst for the British think tank Henry Jackson Society.Mr. Simcox’s study “Al Qaeda’s Global Footprint: An Assessment of Al Qaeda’s Strength Today” notes that the terrorist network’s second-largest safe haven is Somalia, where al-Shabab has 4,000 to 8,000 members.
