Who is Syrian rebel leader Abu Mohammed al Jolani and what are his links to al Qaeda?
Rebel leader Abu Mohammed al Jolani, whose group was central to the lightning offensive that toppled decades of dictatorship in Syria this weekend, has spent years trying to distance himself from his former ties to al Qaeda.
Labelled a terrorist by the US, which still has a $10m (£7.8m) bounty on his head, the leader of Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS) says he has renounced his past as a hardline jihadi extremist and now embraces pluralism and tolerance.
Now poised to play a major role in the future governance of Syria – a diverse country with a variety of religious minorities – al Jolani’s apparent transformation will be put to the test.
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Early years and pivot to jihad
Al Jolani’s real name is Ahmad al Sharaa – it’s what he was known by before he adopted jihad and it is how he has begun referring to himself again, using it as he spoke in Damascus on Sunday.
Now 42, al Jolani was born in 1982 in Syria to a middle class family displaced from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
His political views were reportedly shaped by the 2000 Palestinian Intifada and the 2001 September 11 attacks.
When the US invaded Iraq in 2003, al Jolani was one of many Syrians who crossed into Iraq to fight US forces, there establishing ties with al Qaeda.
He was detained by the US military in Iraq and spent time in the notorious Abu Ghraib prison.
In the early 2000s, the extremist Islamic State of Iraq – led by Abu Bakr al Baghdadi – grew out of the remnants of al Qaeda.
Wanted poster issued by the US State Department for al Jolani
Syria uprising
In 2011, a popular uprising in Syria sparked a brutal crackdown by regime forces – a conflict that deteriorated into more than a decade of civil war.
Al Jolani was directed by al Baghdadi to establish a branch of al Qaeda called the Nusra Front. The new group was labelled a terrorist organisation by the US – a designation that remains in place.
His influence grew and he defied orders from al Baghdadi to dissolve his group and merge it with what had become the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
In his first interview in 2014, he kept his face covered and told a reporter that his goal was to see Syria governed under Islamic law and made clear that there was no room for the country’s Alawite, Shiite, Druze and Christian minorities.
In 2016 he revealed his face to the public for the first time and announced two things: his group was renaming itself Jabhat Fateh al-Sham – the Syria Conquest Front – and it was cutting its ties with al Qaeda.
He was able to assert control over fragmented militant groups and consolidated power in Idlib. He again rebranded his group, calling it Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) – Organisation for Liberating Syria – as it has been known since.
Al Jolani in 2016 discussing battlefield details with commanders in Aleppo. Pic: AP
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A genuine transformation or an image change?
Few could have predicted what happened next. Secure in his position, al Jolani sought to transform his image. He swapped his military garb for a shirt and trousers.
What’s more, he appeared to renounce some tenets of hardline Islamic law and began calling for religious tolerance and pluralism.
“We don’t want the society to become hypocritical so that they pray when they see us and don’t once we leave,” he said, pointing to the example of Saudi Arabia, where social controls have been relaxed to a degree in recent years.
He gave his first interview to an American journalist in 2021, wearing a blazer and with his short hair gelled back. He argued that his group posed no threat to the West and said sanctions against it were unjust.
“Yes, we have criticised Western policies,” he said. “But to wage a war against the United States or Europe from Syria, that’s not true. We didn’t say we wanted to fight.”
He added that his involvement with al Qaeda had ended, and that even in the past his group was “against carrying out operations outside of Syria”.
Abu Mohammed al Jolani speaks at the Umayyad Mosque. Pic: AP
What happens now?
After decades of ruling Syria, the Assad regime has fallen, in large part because of al Jolani’s fighters.
Following his entering Damascus on Sunday as part of the victorious rebel column, he spoke in the city’s landmark Umayyad Mosque and declared the regime’s defeat as “a victory for the Islamic nation”.
Another senior rebel commander, Anas Salkhadi, said on state TV: “Our message to all the sects of Syria, is that we tell them that Syria is for everyone.”
Dr Burcu Ozcelik, a Middle East expert from the RUSI thinktank, said that al Jolani “sees himself as an inevitable and necessary part of any political settlement”.
“Al Jolani clearly has plans to be a leading actor in Syria, and the moderated, pro-democracy script that he has been drawing upon is testament to his commitment to demonstrate that he can change his stripes.
“The real test will be how committed he is to govern via the democratic playbook, and not just borrow the vocabulary.”
Leaders in capitals around the world are monitoring the events in Syria closely, looking for signs of what sort of government will emerge and what its priorities both domestically and in the volatile region will be.
Whether al Jolani’s claimed rejection of his jihadi past in favour of an apparent policy of pluralism and tolerance is genuine or not will be one of the key questions that observers will be seeking answers to.
The UK government has said it could remove HTS from its list of banned terror organisations and will make a decision “quickly”.
World
US blocks Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and 80 other officials from United Nations’ annual meeting in New York
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and 80 other officials have been blocked from attending September’s annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio has revoked the US visas of delegates from the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), and denied others from applying for one.
It is the latest step by Donald Trump’s administration to target Palestinians with visa restrictions, and follows the suspension of a programme to allow injured children from Gaza to receive treatment in the US.
Mahmoud Abbas addressed the general assembly in 2024, but is barred from next month’s meeting. Pic: Reuters
“It is in our national security interests to hold the PLO and PA accountable for not complying with their commitments, and for undermining the prospects for peace,” a statement from the US State Department said.
It added that, to be considered partners for peace, both groups “must consistently repudiate terrorism, and end incitement to terrorism in education, as required by US law and as promised by the PLO”.
Offensive will cause ‘intolerable deaths’
Several US allies, including France, Malta, and Australia have announced plans to recognise Palestine as a state at September’s United Nations General Assembly. Canada and the UK will too, unless Israel meets certain conditions.
Israel declared Gaza’s largest city a dangerous combat zone on Friday.
The army launched a planned offensive that has drawn international condemnation.
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Thick smoke rises from Gaza City after Israeli strikes
Foreign ministers from Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Norway, Slovenia and Spain released a joint statement saying the military operations in Gaza City will cause “intolerable deaths of innocent Palestinian civilians”.
Gaza latest: Israel’s Gaza City offensive condemned
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are sheltering in Gaza City while enduring famine.
An Israeli armoured vehicle in northern Gaza on Friday. Pic: AP
Palestinians ride a truck carrying humanitarian aid in Gaza City. Pic: AP
The Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations (UN), Riyad Mansour, said Mr Abbas had planned to lead the delegation to the UN meetings and was expected to address the general assembly at the general debate, which begins on 23 September.
He was also expected to attend a high-level meeting co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia on 22 September about a two-state solution, a broad idea involving Israel coexisting with an independent Palestinian state.
The State of Palestine is an observer member of the UN, meaning it can speak at meetings but not vote on resolutions.
The State of Palestine cannot vote on UN resolutions. Pic: AP
US decision ‘contravenes international law’
The Palestinian Authority “expressed its deep regret and astonishment” at the visa decision, calling it “a violation of US commitments” as the host of the UN, and claiming it “contravenes international law”.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the world body would be seeking clarification in the “hope that this will be resolved”.
Hundreds of diplomats left when Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu began speaking at the general assembly in 2024. Pic: Reuters
The State Department said that the Palestinian Authority’s mission to the UN, comprising officials who are permanently based there, would not be included in the restrictions.
Under a 1947 UN agreement, the US is generally required to allow access for foreign diplomats to the UN in New York.
But Washington has said it can deny visas for security, extremism and foreign policy reasons.
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The death toll in Gaza has now risen to 63,025, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
It also reported five more malnutrition-related deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number during the war to 322, with 121 of them children.
World
Brazil implores businesses to attend major climate summit, despite ‘second thoughts’ amid Trump backlash
The Brazilian hosts of the biggest climate meeting of the year have implored businesses to attend in November, amid concerns some are backing away from the climate agenda into the shadow of Donald Trump.
In an interview with Sky News, Ana Toni, chief executive of the COP30 climate summit in November, admitted some companies were having “second thoughts” about the global switch to green economies because policymakers were creating uncertainty.
The US President Donald Trump has been attacking wind farms and waging tariff wars that could slow the transition to green energy.
Banks including HSBC and Barclays have ditched a net zero alliance set up just four years ago by Mark Carney, now the Canadian Prime Minister.
Ana Toni, Brazil’s climate secretary, is chief executive of the COP30 climate talks. Pic: Reuters
But even before Trump took office, tech companies were quietly dropping climate targets to prioritise energy-hungry AI, and other businesses were “greenhushing” their climate initiatives for fear of backlash.
In this environment, there are fears fewer business leaders will attend the annual talks, which are also being hosted in a city on the edge of the Amazon that hasn’t enough hotel rooms.
On Friday, the COP30 team wrote to business leaders urging them to “step forward, not back” and travel to Belem, despite “logistical challenges” and the “background of systemic uncertainty”.
Ana Toni told Sky News: “We are very concerned that the enabling conditions must be there so that the private sector can also deliver where they do best, which is bringing in technology, bringing innovation and accelerating the process of decarbonisation.”
In August the share price of Danish wind farm developer plummeted after the US halted its Rhode Island wind farm, while the British Tories and Reform parties are also attacking net zero.
Ana Toni met with King Charles and leaders of other COP summits at Clarence House last year. Pic: Reuters
But Ms Toni there is “nothing to panic [about], because we can see that the transition is inevitable,” citing major progress in China, India and Europe and Brazil.
Referring to the US’s withdrawal from the COP process, she said: “198 countries minus one is not zero. And we will put all our efforts of working with the 197 countries that want to go forward and want to protect their population.”
“Climate action is not only [still] cool, it is necessary,” Ms Toni said.
“We all need to face reality. We are going through a huge climate crisis… If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem. Companies understand that.”
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