Special to WorldTribune.com

WASHINGTON — The administration of President Barack Obama has initiated efforts for a dialogue with Islamist rebels in Syria.

Officials said the administration and U.S. military sought to persuade the Saudi-aligned fighters to cooperate in Western efforts to end the nearly three-year-old war in Syria.

“I think it’s worth knowing whether these groups have any intent whatsoever to be moderate and inclusive, or whether they from the start intend to be radical,” Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said. “So I think that finding that out, however we do so, is worth the effort.”

In a briefing on Dec. 4, 2013, Dempsey did not identify the Islamist militias or say whether they were linked to Al Qaida. Officials acknowledged that Al Qaida’s Islamic State of Iraq and Levant as well as the Nusra Front for the Defense of the Levant were the most powerful rebel forces.

“There are more groups that brand themselves as Al Qaida,” Dempsey said. “Now, whether they actually align himself with Al Qaida’s global terrorist ideology is another issue. I mean, we’re still learning about some of these groups.”

The Wall Street Journal said the U.S. dialogue focused on the new
Islamic Front, a Saudi-financed coalition meant to counter Al Qaida’s
influence. The newspaper said the administration wanted to persuade the
militias to join or support a Syrian peace conference scheduled for Jan. 22,
2014 in Geneva, Switzerland.

“The goal of the diplomacy, according to Western officials is to
persuade some Islamists to support a Syria peace conference in Geneva on
Jan. 22, for fear that the talks won’t yield a lasting accord without their
backing,” the newspaper said.

At the briefing, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the United States
sought a political resolution of the civil war in Syria. Hagel said the
resolution began with the international effort to destroy Syria’s chemical
weapons arsenal.

“This is very complicated, as you all know, just sorting out whose
interests are whose interests and who represents whom,” Hagel said. “And so
it takes some time to do this, and I think the path we’re on, as I said, is
responsible.”

  Chuck Hagel, clues about Islamist rebel groups in Syria, Gen. Martin Dempsey, Islamic Front, U.S. seeks dialogue with