Syrian Al-Farouq Brigades Commander: If the People Want Democracy We Will Not Prevent It

Following are excerpts from an interview with Osama Juneidi, Commander of the Syrian Al-Farouq Brigades, which aired on the Al-Jazeera network on June 17, 2013:

Interviewer: Do you agree with the political plan of the Nusra Front?

Osama Juneidi: Nobody in the Nusra Front, or anybody else, has presented us with the political plan of the Nusra Front.

Interviewer: But it is well known that they have a political plan. They are proposing an Islamic caliphate or emirate. Do you share this idea?

Osama Juneidi: We are opposed to the idea of an Islamic caliphate. In my view, anybody who is proposing an Islamic caliphate in Syria does not understand the religious and political reality in our country.

Interviewer: What form of regime would you like for the future Syria?

Osama Juneidi: Since the beginning of the revolution, we have all been saying... We are all founding members of the Islamic Front for the Liberation of Syria. We, the armed factions, are a part of this people. If the people as a whole – or the majority – want an Islamic state, so be it. If the people do not want an Islamic state, so be it. We, in the Al-Farouq Brigades and the Front for the Liberation of Syria, will strive for the establishment of a state ruled by the shari'a, through the Koran and the Sunna.

Interviewer: If the people want a democratic state, will you prevent this?

Osama Juneidi: If that is what the people want, we will not prevent it.

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