Australia to UN: Return of Syria Fighters Cause of Concern

Local Editor

Ambassador Gary Quinlan of Australia, Chairman of the UN Security Council aI-Qaeda Sanctions Committee, on Wednesday said the return of thousands of battle-hardened foreign fighters with new skills and ideas from Syria represents a "cause of concern" to their native countries in the Arab world, Europe and elsewhere.

"As thousands of foreign fighters engage in conflict alongside local militants [in Syria], ties are established that the Monitoring Team predicts could lead to new pan-Arab and pan-European networks of extremists," Quinlan told the Council as it met to hear briefings by the chairs of its subsidiary bodies on terrorism.

He further warned that "the return of these battle hardened foreign fighters to their countries of origin - or to third countries - with new ideas and skills is a cause for concern."
"Member states in North Africa, the Middle-East and Europe are already grappling with the reality of returning fighters with experience of working with al-Qaeda affiliates," the ambassador added.

Moreover, he warned that the "al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee will continue to maintain a global approach to the threat."
Quinlan added that al-Qaeda has gained "dexterity not only geographically, but also structurally," noting that the trend towards ever-increasing recruitment of foreign fighters has given al-Qaeda and its affiliates a "more global reach in a number of theatres of operation," and that this strategy has been employed with particular rigor in the Syrian context.

He also indicated that "generationally, al-Qaeda is getting younger - with leaders increasingly shaped by the experience of current social dynamics rather than the experiences of the 1990s."
He also quoted from the Monitoring Team's report which noted that leadership positions within al-Qaeda are being taken up by men in their late 30s and 40s. "With this generational shift comes new philosophical perspectives and outreach techniques," he said.

For instance, he added, among the new generation of Boko Haram militants in northern Nigeria, a "younger perspective has resulted in increased propensity for violence and less tolerance for local religious leadership."
 
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team