ALNUSRA CHIEF ANNOUNCES BREAK WITH AL QAEDA, CHANGES GROUP’S NAME

BEIRUT: The head of Al-Nusra Front in Syria said his militant group was breaking ties with al Qaeda and changing its name, in remarks broadcast on Thursday by Al-Jazeera. Abu Mohamad al-Jolani said Al-Nusra would change its name to Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (Conquest of Syria in Arabic) and expressed his gratitude to the “commanders of al Qaeda for having understood the need to break ties”. The announcement came a week after US secretary of state John Kerry and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said they had agreed on “concrete steps” to save a failing Syria truce and tackle militant groups like Al-Nusra and the Islamic State group.