ISIL Iraq onslaught aids Syria regime, rebels: analysts

Both Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and jihadist groups battling to oust him stand to benefit from a lightning offensive by militants across the border in Iraq, analysts believe.

Fighters from the powerful jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group began an offensive in Iraq on Monday, taking a swathe of mostly Sunni Arab territory in the north.

The attack led by ISIL, which operates in both countries, has brought the Iraqi army to the brink of collapse.

Analysts say their advance could deliver not just a military boost to jihadists in Syria, but also political gains for Assad.

ISIL’s brutal tactics and reputation for abuses against civilians and rival rebels may force Western governments to reconsider their support for Syrian insurgents.

"Washington and London are going to find themselves on the same side as Damascus, facing what appears to be a threat to the region, the West and Europe," said Frederic Pichon, author of "Syria: Why the West was Wrong".

Since the beginning of the Syrian conflict in March 2011, Assad has become the "bete noire" of the Western governments who opposed him.

With more than 162,000 people killed in the more than three-year-long conflict and fighting still raging, Assad won a third, seven-year term in office earlier this month in an election dubbed a "parody of democracy" by opponents.

But for Bassam Abu Abdullah of the Damascus Centre for Strategic Studies, which is close to the regime, ISIL’s advances could alter Western policy.

He said the change may come "because there is an imminent threat to the security and stability of the whole region".

Events in Iraq have bolstered the Syrian government’s claims that the threat...