Avoiding al Qaeda's Syria Trap: Jabhat al Nusra's Rebranding
July 28, 2016 - Jennifer Cafarella![](https://understandingwar.org/sites/default/files/styles/thumb-wide/public/RTR4GJ2B_7.jpg?itok=A91f3xxV)
The leader of al Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, Jabhat al Nusra, announced the end of his group's operations and the creation of a new entity named Jabhat Fatah al Sham today. He claims that this new organization has "no affiliation to any external entity." The maneuver removes a key obstacle Jabhat al Nusra faced in Syria, namely the al Qaeda brand name, but it does not denote a change in the group's Salafi-jihadi ideology. Rather, the break will facilitate the unification of armed Syrian opposition groups around a core that still pursues al Qaeda's long-term objective of establishing an Islamic emirate in Syria.