He is the leader of the rebel movement that took the world by surprise – he overturned decades of dictatorship in Syria. Soft-spoken and with a well-trimmed beard, Jolani, 42, sat down with CNN for the first time last week. He exuded confidence. He conducted the operation that assassinated the leader of Daesh but the US continues to believe he leads a group of terrorists
How Syria’s rebel leader went from radical jihadist to blazer-wearing “revolutionary”
by Mostafa SalemCNN
Ahmed Al Sharaa, an Islamic militant in his 20s, returned to Syria from Iraq in 2011 with six men and a monthly allowance of 47,000 euros from Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who would go on to become the world’s most wanted terrorist . His mission was to create the Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda, Jabhat Al Nusra.
Currently, Sharaa commands thousands of men in an armed rebellion that overthrew the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. He is better known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Jolani.
Born in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, to Syrian parents from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and raised in Damascus, Jolani said in a 2021 PBS interview that he was galvanized by the Second Palestinian Intifada (uprising) against Israel in the early 1990s. 2000 and who became a jihadist in Iraq after the American invasion of 2003. His deep knowledge of Syria caught the attention of his commanders in Iraq, who were looking for expand its position in Syria during the country’s uprising.
Over the years, his influence grew, although his identity remained a secret. During television interviews, he never directly faced the camera and always covered his face in public appearances.
His public debut was in a 2016 video, when he announced a split from al-Qaeda to create what he said was an anti-regime front centered in Syria with other local factions, called Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (Front for the Conquest of the Levant), which later changed to Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS), or Organization for the Liberation of the Levant.
“This new formation has no relationship with an external party”, he stated at the time, distancing himself from his radical Islamist past.
The split was strategic. The objective was to prevent attacks from world powers such as the United States and Russia, which intervened in the Syrian civil war to attack Islamist groups such as Al-Qaeda and Daesh. It was also the beginning of Jolani’s gradual transformation from classic anti-Western jihadist to a more palatable revolutionary. In 2021, he told PBS that he had no desire to wage war against Western nations.
Western style blazer
In the years that followed, Jolani replaced his jihadist camouflage attire with a blazer and Western-style shirt, established a semi-technocratic government in Idlib, which his group controlled, and promoted himself as a viable partner in regional and Western efforts. to contain Iran’s influence in the Middle East. Conducted operations against Daesh, including the assassination, in 2023, of Daesh leader – Abu Hussein Al-Husseini al-Qurashi.
“I believe that everyone in life goes through phases and experiences. As we grow, we learn and continue to learn until the last day of our lives,” he said when CNN asked about his transformation.
This week, his group published Jolani’s real name for the first time in a statement announcing Hama’s capture.
“He destroyed all transnational ties and objectives and eliminated Daesh and al-Qaeda operatives in the areas he controls,” explains Dareen Khalifa, senior advisor at the Brussels-based think tank International Crisis Group.
Soft-spoken and with a neatly trimmed beard, Jolani, 42, sat down with CNN for the first time last week, wearing a green military uniform. He exuded confidence and tried to present a moderate view of the world during the interview, avoiding references to jihad and repeatedly presenting his fight as a “revolution” to free Syria from Assad’s oppression.
His recent media appearances have also attempted to promote the leadership qualities he acquired over the years he ruled over four million people in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province.
In Idlib, it began a campaign to eliminate Daesh, as well as potential threats to its influence, arresting former commanders and eliminating rivals.
Human rights groups and local monitors have raised alarm over HTS’s latest treatment of dissidents in Idlib, alleging that the group has conducted harsh crackdowns on protests and tortured and abused dissidents. Jolani told CNN that incidents of prison abuse were “not done under our orders or direction” and that HTS has already held those involved accountable.
Despite attempts to distance his group from extremist organizations, the United States continued to designate his new group as a terrorist organization and targeted HTS members who once fought for Al-Qaeda, proving that his rebranding attempts were a failure.
But the landscape in Syria and the Middle East has changed since then. The collapse of the Syrian regime could finally break Iran’s so-called Axis of Resistance – a network of allied regional states and militias. Jolani may be positioning himself to play a key role in that outcome, hoping it will win him favor both in the region and in the West.
