With the toppling of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, terrorist chief Abu Mohammad al-Jolani is moving into the highlight.
In about two weeks, the 42-year-old head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) — a U.S.-designated terrorist group and essentially the most profitable of the Syrian insurgent teams — toppled the tyrannical Assad regime in an surprising offensive.
But who precisely is he?
Once affiliated with Al-Qaeda and ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, al-Jolani has had a $10 million FBI bounty on his head since 2017. The chief of a insurgent pseudo-government in northwestern Syria, he has been accused of grave human rights violations and desires to impose Sharia. But he’s additionally sought to reinvent himself as a reasonable power for a tolerant Syria.
Here’s what you could know.
Al-Jolani’s Origins
Al-Jolani, whose actual title is Ahmed Hussein al-Shara, was born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 1982 to folks exiled from Syria, in keeping with The New York Times. His nom de guerre, al-Jolani, refers back to the Golan Heights, the world his household hailed from, which Israel occupied and annexed after the Six-Day War in 1967.
Al-Jolani’s father, Hussein Al-Shara, was an Arab nationalist who was imprisoned for protesting in opposition to the 1961 Ba’athist coup in Syria as a pupil, in accordance to al-Jolani. He finally escaped and fled to Baghdad to proceed his research, and briefly went to Jordan to work with Palestinian teams opposing Israel. After returning to Syria and making a failed run for parliament, Al-Shara moved to Saudi Arabia to work within the oil business. By the tip of the Nineteen Eighties, he returned to Syria with Al-Jolani, a baby on the time.
Despite dwelling in what he describes as a middle-class liberal neighborhood, Al-Jolani says he was radicalized by the Second Intifada within the early 2000s.
“I used to be 17 or 18 years previous on the time and I began fascinated with easy methods to fulfill my duties defending the nation, which was being persecuted by the occupiers and invaders,” he mentioned in an interview with PBS, including that he was a younger man so it was a “spontaneous, innate thought.”
Someone suggested him to hope at a mosque throughout this time, which he mentioned made him develop in his Muslim religion.
“There was one thing within me that was pushing me to seek for the reality. How will we attain justice? How can we relieve the individuals of oppression? How can we unfold goodness amongst individuals? I began trying to find all of those meanings in God Almighty’s e book, the Holy Quran, within the practices of the prophet.”
Two weeks earlier than the United States invaded Iraq, al-Jolani, then 21 years previous, mentioned he went to Baghdad to affix Al-Qaeda within the combat in opposition to the United States.
He advised PBS that he was in opposition to Al-Qaeda’s ways of intentionally concentrating on civilians, stating that “many people with a conscience and a real understanding of Islam have been in opposition to the killing of any harmless individual even in circumstances the place killing many enemies was going to trigger the loss of life of 1 harmless individual.”
When requested why he didn’t go away Al-Qaeda on the time, he deflected, telling his interviewer that “if there was no American presence, there wouldn’t have been a resistance.”
Al-Jolani rose by means of the ranks of Al-Qaeda till he was arrested by U.S. troops round 2005 and imprisoned for about 5 years in varied prisons together with Abu Ghraib. He mentioned he used his time to put in writing an extended doc about easy methods to advance jihad in Syria.
“It was lengthy, like a analysis paper, analytical, near 50 pages during which I recounted Syria’s historical past, its geography and sectarian variety and the way Assad’s household got here to energy, and so forth,” he mentioned, including that he not has a replica of it. After his launch, he turned an Al-Qaeda commander in Mosul and despatched his paper to eventual ISIS chief al-Baghdadi.
“I wrote my ideas about Syria to him,” al-Jolani advised PBS. “I had quite a few observations about it. Mainly, we must always not repeat the Iraqi expertise in Syria.”
He believed that any mission in Syria would differ from Al-Qaeda in Iraq as a result of the main target can be to oppose Assad somewhat than launch a sectarian battle.
When al-Jolani met al-Baghdadi, he mentioned he was “stunned” by his lack of “competence to research conditions” and his lack of “sturdy character.”
Al-Jolani then returned to Syria with six males — carrying a suicide belt in case he was caught — in 2011 after the Arab Spring kicked off and led to mass protests in Syria, in keeping with PBS. He claims he was given about $50,000 for the six-month mission.
With the rebellion already in full swing, al-Jolani shaped the group Jabhat al-Nusra and pledged its allegiance to Al-Qaeda in 2013, making it the Syrian affiliate of Al-Qaeda. That similar 12 months he was designated a worldwide terrorist by the State Department and was sanctioned, which made him topic to having his belongings frozen, a journey ban, and an arms embargo, in keeping with the FBI.
Al-Jolani mentioned he used the cash allotted to him to strike navy targets somewhat than civilians. Like ISIS and Al-Qaeda, al-Jolani’s group has used suicide bombers, although he claims they have been deployed in opposition to navy targets somewhat than civilians. Experts advised PBS it’s true that his ways differed from the opposite terrorist teams and he didn’t indiscriminately goal civilians, however that his palms aren’t fully clear.
At the time, al-Jolani borrowed ways from Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood to win the hearts of Syrians together with offering the requirements and social providers individuals wanted to outlive, which the federal government was failing to do, PBS reported. In one 12 months, Al-Jolani mentioned he grew the group from six males to five,000.
To increase cash, the group took donations from sympathizers within the Arab world, looted factories, and ransomed international civilians. One of the hostages was American freelance reporter Theo Padnos, who mentioned he was topic to torture and imprisoned for slightly below two years. The group demanded 22 million euros for his launch.
“For months and months and months they have been simply beating me,” Padnos mentioned of his time in jail. “They would fake that this was an interrogation, however they weren’t taking notes. …They weren’t after particular data.”
In his interview with PBS, al-Jolani mentioned he had not heard of Padnos.
The group turned so affluent that al-Jolani even gave a $2 million fee to assist al-Baghdadi in Iraq as ISIS murdered civilians, PBS reported.
Al-Baghdadi, threatened by al-Jolani, declared that the title Jabhat al-Nusra can be banned and the group can be absorbed by the newly-renamed ISIS, which added Syria to what had beforehand been the Islamic State of Iraq.
The subsequent day, al-Jolani responded, stating that he was not conscious of the announcement till he noticed it within the media. In an interview with Al Jazeera on the time, al-Jolani mentioned Al-Nusra would proceed to function as an unbiased group. By 2014, the 2 have been full-blown rivals, with Al-Baghdadi seizing Raqqa from al-Jolani.
Breaking from Al-Qaeda
In 2016, he revealed his face in public for the primary time, broke ties with Al-Qaeda, and altered the title of his group to Jabhat Fath Al Sham (Conquest of the Levant Front). The group later developed into Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (Organization for the Liberation of the Levant).
In a video saying the break up, al-Jolani mentioned the brand new formation “has no relation to any exterior get together.” Analysts consider the break up was pushed by the burden of its Al-Qaeda affiliation which was a legal responsibility when looking for out new companions to work with.
The break up kicked off a battle between al-Jolani and ISIS and different teams working within the space.
“Though we tried onerous to keep away from this confrontation, it was inevitable, so we fought in opposition to ISIS,” al-Jolani mentioned. “Our safety forces captured and imprisoned lots of them. They have been attempting to sabotage the Syrian revolution.”
He took half in operations in opposition to ISIS, which included the 2023 killing of ISIS chief Abu Hussein Al-Husseini al-Qurashi, CNN reported.
“We are in opposition to killing harmless individuals, even when we’re those who have been oppressed and defending our rights,” he added. “So when it reached this degree, we break up, and we distanced ourselves from those that kill harmless individuals. That was the defining compass.”
“If we had planes, we might have used planes,” he mentioned. “So what’s the distinction between a aircraft that drops a barrel bomb and kills harmless individuals, which isn’t condemned, whereas he who needs to defend these harmless individuals so he sacrifices himself to allow them to stay in security, is condemned.”
Ruling In Idlib
Al-Jolani has ruled Idlib, dwelling to over 3 million individuals, underneath the Syrian Salvation Government (SSG). The pseudo-government was created to offer civil providers, schooling, healthcare, a judiciary, and even collected taxes and issued id playing cards, in keeping with the New York Times and Al Jazeera.
“I don’t declare that the scenario in Idlib is right,” he mentioned. “But I’m saying that given the present circumstances…there’s a self-asserting mannequin that’s able to operating the entire space’s affairs in keeping with Islamic rule.”
Al-Jolani helps Sharia legislation, and plans to impose it in Syria following the ousting of Assad.
(Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP by way of Getty Images)
“It is a simply and proper name,” al-Jolani mentioned of Sharia within the PBS interview. “This mercy, humanity, justice that it accommodates can embrace all factions, together with Christian, Jews and different factions belonging to Islam and different doctrines.”
“Calling for Sharia legislation doesn’t imply we need to exclude the others,” he added. “It’s the exact opposite.”
In Idlib underneath his rule, there have been illegal killings, unjust detention, kidnappings, recruitment of kid troopers, and different human rights abuses, in keeping with a 2022 State Department report. Al-Jolani has denied most accusations.
“There is not any torture,” he mentioned. “This is totally rejected. Human rights organizations might come and examine the prisons or take a tour. Our establishments are open to everybody. We don’t have any downside and if there are any errors, we’ll rectify them.”
Claiming A New Image
While al-Jolani in 2014 threatened to assault U.S. troops if his fighters continued to be attacked with airstrikes, he has spoken about his opposition to combating the United States and the West as early as 2014.
al-Jolani bluntly mentioned he won’t assist any assaults on the United States in his PBS interview.
“I repeat and reiterate that the period — our involvement with Al Qaeda prior to now was an period, and it ended, and even at the moment once we have been with Al Qaeda, we have been in opposition to exterior assaults, and it’s utterly in opposition to our insurance policies to hold out exterior operations from Syria to focus on European or American individuals,” he mentioned.
The interview was his first time talking to a Western reporter, in what seems to be an effort at overhauling his picture to Western audiences. He even shed his terrorist navy garb for apparel that many have identified is just like Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s model.
In the interview, he denied that he’s a terrorist.
“That is an unfair characterization,” he mentioned. “It’s a political label that carries no reality or credibility. We haven’t posed any menace to Western or European society. No safety menace, no financial menace, nothing.”
“Our message to them is temporary: We right here don’t pose any menace to you, so there isn’t a want so that you can classify individuals as terrorists and announce rewards for killing them,” he mentioned.
Jolani reached out to the Trump administration throughout Donald Trump’s first time period, asking to companion, claiming they weren’t terrorists however solely opposed Assad. Former Ambassador James Franklin Jeffrey, who was the U.S. Special Representative for Syria Engagement advised PBS he did nothing in response.
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“Why ought to I take the excessive threat place of urging somebody to get dropped from the terrorist record?” Jeffrey mentioned.
In a uncommon interview final week with CNN, al-Jolani blamed his youth for his radical affiliations with Al-Qaeda when he was youthful.
“An individual of their twenties can have a unique character than somebody of their thirties or forties, and positively somebody of their fifties,” he advised CNN. “This is human nature.”
While ruling Idlib, al-Jolani has tried to attraction to varied minority communities together with the Druze and the Kurds, PBS reported.
During the CNN interview, al-Jolani acknowledged that minority teams resembling Christians have suffered from jihadist teams throughout the Syrian civil battle however mentioned they may stay safely underneath the brand new regime.
“There have been some violations in opposition to [minorities] by sure people in periods of chaos, however we addressed these points,” al-Jolani mentioned. “No one has the fitting to erase one other group. These sects have coexisted on this area for lots of of years, and nobody has the fitting to eradicate them.”
Since capturing Damascus, al-Jolani has tried to set the tone for what comes subsequent, making an look within the metropolis’s Umayyad Mosque the place he declared the autumn of Assad and declared “victory for the complete Islamic nation.”
A senior insurgent commander appeared on state TV in a while, declaring, “Our message to all of the sects of Syria, is that we inform them that Syria is for everybody.”
As the scenario continues to develop, it’s unknown how Islamic Sharia will affect Syria’s spiritual and ethnic minorities in addition to the secular Muslims dwelling within the nation.
