Senior State Department official: ISIS is seen complicating the drive for Syria's peace

The New York Times Monday quoted a senior State Department official as saying that the emergence of a group affiliated with al-Qaeda has undermined the chances of negotiating an end to the Syrian conflict.

By challenging moderate Syrian rebels, the group, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, has forced them to fight on two fronts and divert resources from their battle with the government of President Bashar al-Assad, the official said.

And by presenting an extremist face to the world, the official said, the group is aiding Mr. Assad's efforts to portray the conflict in Syria as a tug of war between the government and jihadists.

"That has to give the regime comfort and confidence, and it will make the task of extracting concessions from the regime at the negotiating table more difficult," said the official, who declined to be identified in keeping with the State Department's protocol for briefing reporters on active diplomacy.

The official said fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, known by its initials, ISIS, had hampered the flow of American and other foreign assistance to the moderate resistance inside Syria, diluting the effort to increase the leverage on the Syrian leader.

"It has been very disruptive to our cross-border efforts - very disruptive," the official said.