The White House have formally asked Russia to leave al-Qaeda alone, fearing that Russian military forces could destroy the CIA-run terrorist organisation with their military might. Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, said that Washington pleaded with him in a private meeting to leave Al-Qaeda’s Nusra Front in Syria alone, citing fears that Russia “might accidentally hit civilians”. ABC News reports: Sergey Lavrov said that Russia has long insisted that the moderate, U.S.-backed opposition groups should leave the areas occupied by Nusra. He said in televised remarks that Russia and the U.S. have engaged in close dialogue on how to secure a cease-fire in Syria, but added that fighting the Islamic State group and Nusra should be a top priority. “They are telling us not to hit it (Nusra), because there is ‘normal’ opposition next .. to it,” Lavrov said. “But that opposition must leave terrorists’ positions, we long have agreed on that.” In Paris, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters that he discussed the upsurge of violence in Syria in Friday’s telephone conversation with Lavrov. Kerry said the two talked for an hour and worked specifically on “ways to try to strengthen the enforcement and accountability for this [...]