Syrian Ikhwan Wants No Foreign Hand İn Syria

The Muslim Brotherhood of Syria, known as Ikhwan, have ruled out any international intervention on Syrian soil in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL.



"We want the foreign aid to be restricted to weapons and financial assistance to the opposition forces for their fight against ISIL militants," Syrian Ikhwan leader Mohammad Riyadh Al-Shaqfah told Anadolu Agency.



The ISIL, which has developed into a formidable force inside Syria, has seized large swathes of Iraq and Syria over the last couple of months, terrorizing the overall region and forcing millions of civilians to flee.



He maintained that they reject any intervention on Syrian soil as the Syrian opposition already has the power required to fight both against the Syrian regime and ISIL militants.



"The Syrian people want resistance against ISIL and elimination of both the militant group and the stricter Assad regime," he said.



The head of the Syrian Ikhwan also claimed that the Syrian people would have been freed from the threat of the regime and of ISIL if the moderate opposition fighters had been supported with weapons.



Al-Shaqfah maintained that the "free world" that believes in democracy is supporting dictators in Syria for the last three years, and doing so by making statements.



"Syria needs support. It's still possible to free its people despite all challenges. Only support is needed," he added.



Al-Shaqfah pointed out the only way to end the Syrian crisis is to unite the opposition groups and provide united assistance to them.



"The armed opposition groups are assisted separately. That's why they are so disconnected. If foreign aid is united, then the revolutionary groups will unite and win," he said.



Syria has been plagued by quasi-constant fighting since the regime launched a violent crackdown in response to anti-government protests in March 2011. 



The ensuing conflict spiraled into a civil war and has proved to become a breeding ground for Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant militants, who have since gained control of large parts of Syria and Iraq.



The U.N. has stopped updating its death toll for the country because an official count had become too difficult to verify. At least 100,000 deaths were recorded in the last official count, in July 2013.



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