The spectre is looming of a second Syrian civil war, with the head of the opposition's official forces declaring that he is prepared to join regime troops in future to drive out al-Qaeda-linked extremists who have taken over swathes of rebel-held territories.
General Salim Idris, the commander of the Free Syrian Army, warned that in particular Isis (Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham), with thousands of foreign fighters in its ranks, was very dangerous for the future of Syria and needs to be confronted before it becomes even more powerful.
Western security agencies now believe Syria poses the most potent threat of terrorism in Europe and the US, from where hundreds of Muslims have gone to join the Syrian jihad. MI5 and Scotland Yard's anti-terrorist branch recently tackled the first case of men sent from there specifically to carry out attacks in London.
One senior Western intelligence official stressed the Syrian regime's forces must be preserved for the battles ahead against the Islamists and the need to avoid the mistakes made in Iraq and Libya, where the army and police were disbanded with the fall of Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi, allowing terrorist groups to rise in a security vacuum.
The official held that talks between the regime and rebels, set to take place in Geneva in January, could be the beginning of an anti-al-Qaeda front in Syria, with a negotiated settlement to end the conflict.
