The head of the official Syrian opposition groups said Wednesday that the battlefield in Syria was now a three-way tussle between the regime, the rebels and the increasingly assertive groups linked to al-Qaeda

The head of the official Syrian opposition groups said Wednesday that the battlefield in Syria was now a three-way tussle between the regime, the rebels and the increasingly assertive groups linked to al-Qaeda, the UK daily The Times reported.

The newspaper noted that General Salim Idriss, the commander of the so-called free Syrian army (FSA), softened  his demands before peace talks in Geneva planned for next month, saying that Mr. Assad removal from power was no longer a precondition, but could follow from the negotiations.

Idriss statements, The Times said, indicate a shift in the dynamics of the Syrian war, with the announcement of the FSA of an open confrontation against the growing influence of jihadi groups, which represents a major concern for the West.

The report confirmed that by this statement, Idris has sent a message to the Syrian army forces that they will have an important role in post-Assad era, and that they will not suffer from the mop-up which led to disband the Iraqi army after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.

The paper points to the intelligence report prepared by the FSA about the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), claiming they have about 5,500 foreign fighters and they are able to mobilize more than 20 thousand fighters, including 14 clans in north-east Syria.

Earlier, Idris had warned in an interview with The Washington Post that ISIL is trying to achieve "full control over the liberated areas."

Idris described the ISIL militants as "very dangerous for the future of Syria," he said, adding that if Assad stepped down from power, his troops would be ready to join the government forces to fight against ISIL.

In the same context, The Independent newspaper published a report titled "Syrian rebels consider joining forces with regime troops to fight al-Qaeda."

The report said that Western security agencies now believe that Syria poses the most potent threat of terrorism in Europe and the US from where hundreds of Muslims have gone to join the jihad.

"One senior Western intelligence official stressed that 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," it said.