section_path: Syrian civil war/Resurgence of al-Nusra
section_name: Resurgence of al-Nusra
paragraph_text: Resurgence of al-Nusra
  
  In late May 2015, al-Sharaa was interviewed by Ahmed Mansour on Qatari news broadcaster Al Jazeera, hiding his face. He described the Geneva peace conference as a farce and claimed that the Western-backed Syrian National Coalition did not represent the Syrian people and had no ground presence in Syria. Al-Sharaa mentioned that al-Nusra have no plans for attacking Western targets, and that their priority is focused on fighting the al-Assad Syrian government, Hezbollah, and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Al-Sharaa told Al Jazeera America in 2015, "Nusra Front doesn't have any plans or directives to target the West. We received clear orders from Ayman al-Zawahiri not to use Syria as a launching pad to attack the U.S. or Europe in order to not sabotage the true mission against the regime. Maybe Al-Qaeda does that but not here in Syria. Assad forces are fighting us on one end, Hezbollah on another and ISIL on a third front. It is all about their mutual interests". When asked about Nusra's plans for post-war Syria, al-Sharaa initially stated that all factions in the country will be consulted before anyone thinks about "establishing an Islamic state," referring to Baghdadi. He also stated that Nusra would not target the country's Alawite minority despite its support for the Assad regime. He continued: "Our war is not a matter of revenge against the Alawites despite the fact that in Islam, they are considered to be heretics", he added. A commentary on this interview however states that al-Sharaa also added that Alawites would be left alone as long as they abandon elements of their faith which contradict Islam.
  
  By October 2015, the Russian intervention in the Syrian civil war prompted al-Sharaa to call for increased attacks on Assad strongholds in Alawite villages in retaliation for Russian airstrikes on Sunni areas, saying, "There is no choice but to escalate the battle and target Alawite towns and villages in Latakia." He also called on Muslims from the former Soviet Union to attack Russian civilians if Russia continued attacking Syrian civilians.