Key Syrian rebel groups rejected the authority of the Western-backed Syrian National Coalition (SNC) late Tuesday, undermining international efforts to establish a pro-Western military force capable of defeating President Bashar al-Assad’s forces.
A joint statement issued by 13 rebel groups, including elements of the Western-backed Free Syrian Army and the al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat al-Nusra, slammed the SNC for no longer representing their interests.
"The National Coalition and the proposed government under (recently chosen leader) Ahmad Tomeh does not represent us, nor do we recognize it," the groups said in the statement.
Their announcement came almost two weeks after the Turkey-based SNC elected Tomeh as its interim prime minister, and amid reports of increased tensions and deadly clashes among rebel groups.
Among the signatories are the Islamist-leaning Ahrar al-Sham and Liwaa al-Islam brigades, both powerful rebel factions with large followings. Three of the groups -- Liwaa al-Tawheed, Liwaa al-Islam and Suqour al-Sham – were, until now, members of the Free Syrian Army, which is considered to be the SNC’s military wing.
The statement said the rebels do "not recognize" any future government formed outside of Syria, insisting that forces fighting on the ground should be represented by "those who suffered and took part in the sacrifices."
Furthermore, the statement called on all those trying to topple Assad's government to unite within an Islamic framework.
"These forces call on all military and civilian groups to unite in a clear Islamic context that ... is based on Sharia (Islamic) law, making it the sole source of legislation," read the statement, which also called to "reject division ... putting the interest of the (Islamic) nation over the interest of each group."
The move is a setback for foreign leaders trying to bolster more secular rebel groups and to reassure voters skeptical of deeper involvement in Syria's civil war.
Analyst Aron Lund wrote on the blog Syria Comment: "If the statement proves to accurately represent the groups mentioned and they do not immediately fall apart again, it is a very big deal. It represents the rebellion of a large part of the 'mainstream FSA' against its purported political leadership, and openly aligns these factions with more hardline Islamist forces."
Loay Safi, a spokesman for SNC President Ahmed Jarba, who was attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York, said Jarba would head for Syria on Thursday to respond.
"We are not going to negotiate with individual groups. We are going to come up with a better structure for organizing the fighting forces," Safi said.
Shashank Joshi, a research fellow at Royal United Services Institute, told Al Jazeera that part of what the statement signals is "enormous rebel frustration" directed at Washington and the West. Joshi said it also indicates an objection to the U.S.-Russia deal, which designates a diplomatic path to disarming Syria of chemical weapons.
That deal has so far averted a military strike, which was initially sought by President Barack Obama to punish Assad for a chemical weapons attack on Aug. 21 that the U.S. said was perpetrated by his regime and killed more than 1,400 people.
Arms supplies promised to Syrian rebels by the U.S. earlier this year also "haven’t really materialized on the ground," further souring rebel forces, Joshi said.
But the rebels themselves are also deeply divided, with many groups blaming al-Qaeda members in their ranks for the West's reluctance to intervene militarily in Syria or give them the advanced weaponry they need. There is also growing concern that the dominant role those elements are playing is discrediting the rebellion.
Charles Lister of IHS Jane's Terrorism and Insurgency Center told Reuters the three moderate Islamist groups that signed the statement had represented the SNC's main fighting force. "It is likely that the moderate Islamist coalition has ceased to exist as a single organization structure," he said.
As far as what Tuesday's news means for the SNC, Joshi said the statement doesn't signal its demise despite its diminished influence.
"If you look at the position of the Western-backed groups, they may be losing influence, (but) they have legitimacy to talk to the outside world," he said, adding that Western powers would never sit down at the negotiating table with al-Qaeda-linked groups.
In terms of how Assad will be affected by this latest development, Joshi said that while it may reinforce his position that the choice in the conflict has always been "between his regime or Islamist-dominated chaos," it may also come at a cost.
"The opposition will grow less reconcilable, and Assad may come to regret that trend when his regime gets weaker," Joshi said.
Tuesday’s statement came amid an escalation of violence between rebel fighters from various factions and another al-Qaeda-linked group, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIS.
ISIS, a U.S.-designated "terrorist organization," announced last week that it would "go to war" against two other rebel groups in the town of al-Bab, in the Aleppo governorate.
Yet ISIS has been one of the most effective forces on the battlefield, fighting alongside the Free Syrian Army to capture military facilities, strategic installations and key neighborhoods in cities across Syria, including Aleppo and Homs.
Meanwhile, the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council are meeting Wednesday to discuss Syria and how to remove its chemical weapons.
U.N. inspectors returned to Syria on Wednesday to continue their investigation into the use of chemical weapons over the country’s two-and-a-half-year civil war. Last month the team of inspectors traveled there to investigate the Aug. 21 gas attack.
The U.N. report concluded there was clear evidence that sarin gas was used in the attack, but did not determine who used it.
Philip J. Victor contributed to this report. With Al Jazeera and wire services
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