Latest research indicates that at least 15 rebel forces in
Syria are ready to succeed Islamic State (ISIS) if it is
defeated by the US-led coalition.
The centre on religion and geopolitics, linked to former UK
Prime Minister, Tony Blair, also said that 60% of the rebels
could be classified as Islamists.
It argues that attempts by world powers to distinguish
between moderate and extremist factions are flawed.
Western countries had stepped up air strikes against ISIS in
Syria and Iraq.
But the centre said that the greatest danger to the
international community, were groups that shared the ISIS
ideology but are currently being ignored.
They number about 100,000 fighters.
It further warned that if ISIS is defeated, dispersed fighters
and other extremists could attack targets outside Syria
under a rallying cry that “the west destroyed the caliphate”.
By contrast, fewer than a quarter of the rebels surveyed were not ideological, the centre said.
In September, Russian forces began air strikes against rebels in Syria, targeting “all terrorists”, including
ISIS.
However, Western-backed groups were also reported to have been hit.
The Centre on Religion and Geopolitics, an initiative of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, said that Syria now
hosts the largest gathering of jihadi groups in modern times.
Current Western efforts to define “moderate” and “extremist” rebels are bound to fail, because the groups
themselves rarely make the distinction, the centre said.
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