Abu Muhammad al-Jolani has been a relatively obscure militant leader in Syria for years, but the 42-year-old rose to prominence by leading the stunning military offensive that toppled longtime Syrian President Bashar al-Assad."Freedom".
When Jolani announced the "capture of Damascus" in a televised address on December 8, he used his real name, Ahmed al-Sharaa, instead of his fighting name, a move that also underscores his rapid rise.
The leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, designated a terrorist group by the US, has long tried to change his public image, publicly renouncing his ties to al-Qaeda and trying to present himself as a pragmatic and tolerant leader. :
How well he succeeded in that transformation remains to be seen, as Jolan, who had a $10 million bounty on his head, and the group he leads are poised to play a major role in post-Assad Syria.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham is a militant Islamist group that seeks to establish a state governed by Islamic law in Syria.The group is allied with several smaller militant Islamist groups, some of which are foreign fighters from Europe and Central Asia.
Who are the militants occupying territories in Syria?
Aaron Zelin, a senior researcher at the Washington Institute, describes the members of "Hayat Tahrir al-Sham" as "political jihadists".
"Jolani and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham are more pragmatic about politics. they are between traditional political Islamists and the so-called "global" jihadists, members of the extremist group "Al-Qaeda" and "Islamic State", he added.
"Cunning" Jolan
Jolani was born in 1982 in Saudi Arabia to Syrians who came from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights region.
The first years of his military activity are hazy. He is believed to have joined al-Qaeda in Iraq after the 2003 US invasion.
In 2012, Jolani founded Jabhat al-Nusra, or the Nusra Front, the Syrian offshoot of al-Qaeda. Formed in the northwestern province of Idlib, it later changed its name several times and left In 2017, it merged with other opposition groups to form Hayat Tahrir al-Sham".
Jolani once wore a turban, a long beard and a military uniform, but he refused to wear the insignia of the militant leader, preferring to wear jackets, shave and give interviews to Western media.
The leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham "is cunning and seeks to gain power and consolidate it for himself and his organization," said Philip Smith, an expert on Iranian proxies and Shiite militias.
Despite Jolani's transformation and attempts to portray himself as a pragmatic and moderate figure, concerns remain about his and his group's alleged rights abuses and ties to terrorist groups.
In declaring Jolani a terrorist in 2013, the US State Department cited bombings carried out by the assassins of Jolani's Nusra Front, saying his group's "violent, sectarian vision" was at odds with the aspirations of Syrian society.
"Extremism and terrorist ideology have no place in post-Assad Syria," the statement said.
In 2017, the US Embassy in Syria wrote on the X social network that Washington "remains committed" to bringing senior representatives of al-Qaeda's Syrian network, including Jolani, to "justice".
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham's primary goal was to topple the Assad government, but their secondary goal is to "build institutions that are beneficial and useful to Syrians," said Aaron Zelin, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute. they had an experience in Idlib."
But even if Jolani and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham keep their promises of tolerance and inclusiveness, removing them from the terrorist organization list could take years, Aaron Zelin added.
Details:on the source site.
