Al-Qaeda's leader is calling on Muslims to join in Syria's revolution and to fight the Assad regime. But jihadists from neighboring countries may already have joined the ranks of the opposition Free Syrian Army. Their presence could be the death blow to the revolution.

Syrian rebels train outside of Idlib. How significant is the danger of infiltration?
Photo: AP.

The message was clear: Every Muslim must aid the uprising against the Syrian government "with everything that he has -- his life, money, views and information." The current leader of the terror network al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, called on believers to bear arms and go to Syria in an eight-minute video that was posted over the weekend on extremist websites. Rebellion against the "anti-Islamic regime" in Damascus is a religious obligation, he declared.

For their campaign against Bashar Assad's "pernicious, cancerous regime," the brothers in God should build on their willingness to make sacrifices and on their steadfastness. The al-Qaeda leader especially called on Sunni Muslims in Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan and Iraq to rush to the aid of the opposition in their neighboring country.

The fiery call to action from Zawahiri, who succeeded Osama bin Laden at the top of al-Qaeda, has fueled the ongoing speculation over the presence of foreign, or even al-Qaeda fighters in Syria. The regime in Damascus has long maintained that the 11-month-old uprising in the country was being waged by "foreigners," "terrorists" and "armed bands." The Syrian National Council, an opposition coalition, and the Free Syrian Army (FSA), the umbrella organization of the armed resistance, spurn that notion, and argue that the rebellion in Syria is a popular uprising of Syrian citizens who are fighting for their freedom and for democracy.

'Hundreds of Foreign Fighters'

But, despite the protestations from the Syrian opposition, rumors are growing over the deployment of foreign jihadists in Syria. One source in Beirut, who was outside of Homs in recent weeks with the opposition FSA, reported seeing "hundreds of foreign fighters," who have attached themselves to the FSA, which is made up largely of deserters from the Syrian military. The Sunni volunteers came primarily from Iraq and Lebanon, with a few from Saudi Arabia, the source said.