Ahmad al-Sharaa, founder of the rebel group that leads Syria
He fought for Iraq, was arrested, was part of al-Qaeda and will now lead Syria. There is an old ally who liked not to lose: Russia.
Ahmad Al-Sharaabetter known in his country by Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, he was appointed president of Syria during the transition period.
The spokesman for the Syrian Military Operations Command, the Commander Hassan Abdel Ghani, announced this Wednesday, “the appointment of Commander Ahmad al-Sharaa as head of state during the Transitional period. It will assume the functions of President of the Arab Republic of Syria and will represent the country in international instances ”, in a statement to which it had access.
“The president is authorized to form a temporary legislative council for the transition phase, which will perform his duties until the enactment and entry into force of a permanent constitution,” reads the document.
Al-Sharaa is 43, and when he was in the 20 of the 20 Iraq to fight US forces em 2003.
He was arrested in Camp Bucca, a place that became an important center of recruitment of terrorist groups, including what would become Isis.
In 2012, already in Syria, formed the jabhat al-nusra, a group that swore to al-Qaeda and is now, precisely, the HTS -The group that overthrew last year the dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad and seized power in the country (already ruled, before the coup that overthrew the regime in Idlib, northwest of Syria).
However, in 2016, the group separated from Al-Qaeda, the terrorist group that had already starred in media attacks such as those of 11 September.
Since the fall of the Assad regime, Russia has been removing troops and weapons from its two bases on the Mediterranean coast of Syria – the Hmeimin Air Base near Latakia and Tartous’s naval base, says A.
However, Al-Shaara does not like this decision. He had said a month ago to the local communication agency that there are “deep strategic interests between Russia and Syria” and ensured no interest in Russia comes out “in a way that harms its relationship with our country”, since “All weapons in Syria are of Russian origin and many power plants are managed by Russian experts. ”
