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Designated by the United States as a terrorist and with a $10 million bounty on his head, Abu Mohammed al-Golani has become the leading figure in liberating Syria from the decades-long oppressive regime of Bashar Assad.
He has quickly placed himself at the forefront of shaping the country’s future, with a past that raises concerns even as much of Syria celebrates the fall of Assad.
Separated from Al Qaeda
Born in Syria in the late 1970s or early 1980s, al-Golani promotes himself as a political and pragmatic leader and is providing guarantees for Syria’s multi-ethnic and religious populations. These pledges stand in direct contrast to the violence and human rights abuses carried out by Islamist groups it has aligned itself with in the past, such as ISIS and Al Qaeda.
“No one has the right to erase another group,” said one CNN interview in the days before taking over Damascus, the seat of the Assad government.
“These sects have lived together in this region for hundreds of years, and no one has the right to eliminate them. There must be a legal framework that protects and guarantees the rights of all, not a system that serves only one sect , as the Assad regime has done.”
While the Biden administration has hailed Assad’s downfall as a landmark and landmark event, US officials have not confirmed that he is in direct contact with al-Golani or members of the group he leads, Hayat Tahrir al -Sham (HTS), which is also designated. as a terrorist group.
Al-Golani, as head of HTS, broke his alignment with al Qaeda, but US officials and analysts are watching closely whether actions line up with public statements.
“We will remain vigilant, make no mistake, some of the rebel groups that defeated Assad have their own history of terrorism and human rights abuses,” President Biden said in remarks from the White House on Sunday.
“We have taken note of the statements of the leaders of these rebel groups in recent days and now they are saying the right things. But as they take on greater responsibility, we will evaluate not just their words but their actions.
‘Obsessed’ with Syrian rule
Born Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa in Damascus, Syria, al-Golani’s nom de guerre is a reference to his family’s roots in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, indicating concern by the US and Israel that if al -Golani and HTS represent a threat. in Israel
Andrew Tabler, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said HTS and its coalition groups are “very obsessed and inwardly focused” on establishing a political government over Syria.
HTS, at the head of a military coalition that includes opposition forces and Islamist groups, appears to be in control of the western half of the country with the main population centers of Damascus, Aleppo, Hama, Homs and access to the sea Mediterranean Syrian Kurdish groups, some backed by the US, control a smaller part of the country in the east.
“Going forward, though, the way governments in Damascus often legitimize themselves, especially when they’re not able to get their people through, is through the narrative of resistance and attacking Israel,” Tabler said. during a videoconference with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.
“The question is, will these groups, whether it’s HTS or other Sunni-backed groups, turn to this old playbook to gain legitimacy and somehow take advantage of this war with Israel?”
Al-Golani, in a victory speech delivered on Sunday at the historic Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, declared a new chapter in the region where the Syrian people take possession of the country. On Monday, he was holding transition meetings between Assad-appointed prime minister Mohammed al-Jalali and the prime minister of the self-declared Salvation Government, the governing body of northwestern Syria’s Idlib province. which HTS controlled for years.
“(Al-Golani) has a history of having a technocratic government that provides minimal services,” said John Hannah, a senior fellow at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America who has held senior foreign policy positions both for Democrats and Republicans alike. administrations
“(HTS) didn’t attack Christians and Druze and other minorities, but they also didn’t make them part of any democratic government, they were clearly second-class citizens,” he continued.
“But since his descent now into Damascus, along the way, he has been issuing proclamations to every minority population he can find that they must be, as long as they leave the regime, that they will be protected, his property. , the government institution s ‘should protect’.
International recognition
In the CNN interview, al-Golani said his future governance plans for Syria would focus on institutions, when asked if he would impose a strict Islamist government and what an Islamist government would mean for minority groups.
“We are talking about building Syria. HTS is only one detail of this dialogue, and it can be dissolved at any time. It is not an end in itself, but a means to carry out a task against this regime. After this task is completed, it will move to a state of government, institutions, etc.
Al-Golani said he was never personally involved in acts of terrorism. In 2003 he traveled to Iraq to fight the US invasion and spent five years in a US-run prison in the country. Returning to Syria in 2011, he founded Jabhat al-Nusrah to serve as an offshoot of the Islamic State, but later split from the group, aligned with al Qaeda for several years, before declaring independence as HTS in 2016 .
The US listed it as a specially designated nationals in 2013, a key sanctions designation; and in 2017, the FBI issued a $10 million reward for information on al-Golani’s whereabouts.
“I think everyone in life goes through phases and experiences… a person in their 20s will have a different personality than someone in their 30s or 40s, and certainly someone in their 50s,” he told the Golani to CNN in response to a question about his political and military evolution.
“Sometimes it is essential to adapt to reality, and because someone who clings rigidly to certain ideas and principles without flexibility cannot lead societies effectively or navigate complex conflicts like what is happening in Syria.”
Hannah said the international recognition and overwhelming humanitarian and reconstruction needs provide an opportunity for the United States and other democratic nations to exert some leverage on the way forward in Syria, where there are concerns about the protection of civilians, but also control over Assad’s stockpiles of weapons and chemicals. .
“Any new government in Syria will be desperate for recognition, for legitimacy, for money, for reconstruction aid,” he said. “We have some leverage to at least try to protect or prevent a bloodbath and absolute chaos and Jihad in Syria.”
Civil war recovery
Nearly 14 years of civil war in Syria have left some 14 million people as refugees or internally displaced. And the Assad regime’s systematic torture and oppression has had a profound impact on groups like HTS.
“If you look at the foot soldiers of this force (HTS and opposition forces), they are made up of people who were 10 years old and six years old at the start of the revolution in 2011,” Mouaz said. Moustafa, executive director of the Syrian Emergency Task Force, which has been in contact with the Syrian opposition for more than a decade.
“These little kids who were displaced from Aleppo at the age of 10, 12 and they were coming back saying ‘let’s go back to liberate our towns and cities’ and hugging their grandmothers,” he said.
Moustafa has endorsed UN Security Council 2254, the 2015 resolution that offered the UN to facilitate talks between the government and opposition members, but was blocked by Assad, with the support of Iran and Russia.
Charles Lister, senior fellow and director of the Syria and Counterterrorism and Extremism programs at the Middle East Institute, said HTS and its broader coalition military operations are focused on managing Syria’s political transition internally.
“Their view is that a UN-led process designed and determined abroad is unnecessary, and they reject it.” wrote in an article for Foreign Policy, citing four sources associated with HTS and its allies.
“‘We welcome the support of the international community, but we do not need them to fabricate a process we are already implementing,’ one of them told me as they arrived in Damascus. “We refuse to fall into the traps of the past,” said another.
