Al-Qaida-linked group ramps up regional violence

January 8, 2014 at 5:30p.m.

BEIRUT (AP) — Al-Qaida is positioning itself as a vanguard defending the Sunni community against what it sees as persecution by Shiite-dominated governments across Syria, Lebanon and Iraq. As a result, a Syrian rebellion whose aim was the removal of President Bashar Assad is evolving into something both bigger and more ambiguous: a fight increasingly led by Sunni jihadis – often foreign and animated mainly by hatred of Shiites – who are determined to create an Islamic state.