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Abu Muhammad al-Jawlani | |
---|---|
Born | Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa 1982 (age 41–42) Riyadh, Saudi Arabia |
Political orientation | Jihadism |
Political party | Tahrir al-Sham |
Ahmad Husayn ash-Shar (born 1982), better known as Abu Muhammad al-Jawlani, is a Saudi jihadist and leader of the Organization for the Liberation of the Levant who is seen as the current de facto leader of Syria. He was previously the leader of the Front of the Supporters of the People of the Levant, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda. In 2013, the U.S. government called al-Jawlani a "global terrorist" and offered a $10 million reward for his capture whilst bourgeois media over the years attempted to portray him as a reformed moderate. In 2024, the USA, Turkey, and Israel helped al-Jawlani take over Syria and overthrow Bashar al-Assad.[1][2]
Early Life
Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa was born in 1982 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to a Syrian family originally from the Israeli occupied Golan Heights. The family returned to Syria in 1989, settling in an affluent district of Damascus. Al-Jawlani pursued media studies before relocating to Iraq in 2003, just prior to the Iraq War.[3]
In Iraq al-Jawlani joined al-Qaeda and quickly rose through the ranks becoming a close aide to top al-Qaeda leaders. He was captured by Statesian forces in 2006 and spent 5 years imprisoned at Camp Bucca forging connections with Daesh leaders. After being released in 2011 he served in Iraq’s Nineveh and Mosul provinces as a Daesh commander, an organization which had been freshly revitalized thanks to the United States releasing 5,700 ISIS fighters in 2009. Al-Jawlani was sent to Syria in 2012 during the early phases of the Syrian Civil War, with the backing of Daesh and al-Qaeda, to set up al-Qaeda's Syrian branch, al-Nusra Front.[2][3]
Syrian terrorist
Al-Nusra targeted their campaign in the Idlib governate and around the Syrian oil fields, working with the Free Syrian Army (FSA) who are supplied with US weapons, and selling oil to the EU who lifted the oil embargo on Syria to allow the terrorists to fund their operation. Meanwhile al-Jawlani's forces committed massacres against minorities, most notably against the Alawite people.[2]
Al-Jawlani broke away from Daesh in 2013 due to conflicts over leadership and aligned completely with al-Qaeda which would lead to later conflicts over the oil fields with Daesh. The US designated al-Jawlani as a global terrorist in May 2013, placing a $10 million bounty on him, and in September 2014 al-Jawlani declared his intent to fight the US, however, less than 2 years later in July 2016 al-Jawlani broke officially with al-Qaeda in an attempt to project an image of being a moderate.[3]
In 2017 al-Jawlani established Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) from al-Nusra and other groups and took over large swathes of land in the Idlib region establishing a rudimentary governing structure know as the Syrian Salvation Government aided by Israel and the West. HTS began collecting taxes, issuing identity cards, harshly suppressing dissent and discriminating against minorities whilst claiming to be protecting those they oppress in order to consolidate control and show off a façade of credibility for the West.[3]
Post-Assad regime
On November 27 2024 HTS suddenly made rapid advances backed by the West against the Syrian Arab Republic taking Aleppo, Hama and Damascus in less than a 2 week period causing the collapse of the government. With HTS in control of the capital al-Jawlani essentially became the de facto ruler of Syria and HTS has set about establishing a transitional government with the approval of the West.[3] Al-Jawalani's ally Israel meanwhile decimates Syria through relentless bombing campaigns and a southern land invasion while al-Jawlani has made no move to stop them, instead declaring Syria will not "be used for anti-Israel attacks," allowing the Zionists a free hand to terrorise the Syrian population with his blessing.[4]
References
- ↑ Zoe Alexandra (2024-12-08). "Netanyahu takes credit for fall of Syrian government as Israel advances on Golan Heights" Peoples Dispatch.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Abu Mohammad al-Julani: Putting lipstick on a pig" (2024-12-13). The Cradle. Archived from the original on 2024-12-13.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Alireza Akbari (2024-12-15). "How ex-Daesh and al-Qaeda leader al-Jolani became West’s blue-eyed boy in Syria" Press TV. Archived from the original on 2024-12-15.
- ↑ "HTS head vows not to ‘allow Syria to be used for anti-Israeli attacks’" (2024-12-17). Press TV. Archived from the original on 2024-12-18.