BEIRUT — Clashes broke out this week between Syrian government forces and fighters in a camp in northern Syria’s Idlib province led by an internationally wanted French militant.

The clashes come at a delicate moment, as Syria’s interim authorities are trying to decide how to handle the presence of thousands of Islamist foreign fighters in the country.

Foreign fighters joined forces with the Syrian insurgents who unseated former President Bashar Assad in a lightning offensive last year after nearly 14 years of civil war.

But now, as the country’s new leaders are trying to cement new ties with the west, these foreign fighters have become a political liability. Their presence is widely unpopular with Syrians, particularly religious minorities, who view them as often more extreme in their v

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