US Ambassador Robert Ford said the Islamic Front flatly turned down the US’ request for talks; Ford added that the US is “ready to sit with them because we talk to all parties and political groups in Syria.” The Assad regime called the US offer “reprehensible” as the Islamic Front “agrees in principle, strategy, and goals with” the Al Nusrah Front, a US-designated terrorist group. Saudi Arabia signaled that it will ‘go it alone‘ in Syria given the West’s reluctance to arm the rebels. Five rebel fighters in Idlib were killed on Dec. 16 by the premature detonation of a car bomb they were assembling. The Moroccan jihadist group Sham al-Islam released a video showing its fighters participating in a raid on Aleppo Central Prison. The UN condemned recent attacks on UN peacekeepers in the Golan Heights by Syrians, blaming both opposition fighters and regime troops.
