Al-Qaeda planning to declare Islamic state in Syria, FSA official says

Now - A high ranking Free Syrian Army official revealed in remarks published Tuesday that the Al-Qaeda organization was planning on declaring an Islamic state in North Syria.

“The FSA has documented information that Al-Qaeda will soon declare an Islamic state in North Syria, after defeating the FSA and controlling the border crossings with Turkey,” the unnamed official told As-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper.

The official also said that the Islamic organization “set the zero hour on the first day of Eid al-Fitr [the holiday marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan].”

He added that the Islamists planned to target the Bab al-Hawa and Harem border crossings “in order to acquire weapons as well as finances through the smuggling of crude oil.”   More