Ahmed Al Sharaa, an Islamist militant in his late 20s, moved back to Syria from Iraq in 2011 with six men and a monthly stipend of $50,000 from Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who would go on to become the world’s most wanted terrorist. His mission was to establish Al Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, Jabhat Al Nusra.
Sharaa is now commanding thousands of men in an armed rebellion threatening to topple the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. He’s better known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Jolani.
Born in the Saudi capital Riyadh to Syrian parents from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and raised in Damascus, Jolani said in an interview with PBS in 2021 that he was galvanized by the Second Palestinian Intifada (uprising) against Israel in the early 2000s and went on to become a jihadist in Iraq after the 2003 US invasion. His deep knowledge of Syria caught the attention of his commanders in Iraq as they were looking to expand their foothold in Syria during the country’s uprising.
Over the years, his influence grew despite his identity being kept under wraps. During television interviews, he never faced the camera directly 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 a Syria-focused anti-regime front with other local factions, called Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (the Front for the Conquest of the Levant), which later changed to Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS), or the Organization for the Liberation of the Levant.
The split was strategic. The goal was to fend off attacks from world powers like the United States and Russia, both of which had intervened in the Syrian civil war to target Islamist groups like Al Qaeda and ISIS. It was also the start of Jolani’s gradual transformation from the classic anti-West jihadist, to a more palatable revolutionary. He told PBS in 2021 that he had no desire to wage war against Western nations. – CNN
The Syrian branch of al-Qaeda, currently calling itself Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), has succeeded in getting itself off Canada’s list of designated terrorist entities following its latest identity shift.
That complicates the task of prosecuting Canadians who travel to join the group, send it money or propagandize on its behalf.
The United States put the group on its terrorist list in 2012, as the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda, and Canada followed suit.
Al-Baghdadi soon crossed into Syria himself, renouncing his allegiance to al-Qaeda and founding ISIS in April 2013.
Al-Jawlani’s group remained loyal to the mother organization founded by bin Laden, and Jabhat al-Nusra and ISIS have been at each other’s throats ever since. Meanwhile, the U.S.-led coalition focused its bombing on Islamic State, not al-Nusra.
While ISIS made headlines and enemies across the world, al-Nusra flourished. It has carried out numerous suicide bombings, forced religious conversions, destroyed ancient shrines and enacted brutal punishments, including the stoning of women. – CBC
Israel, has funded both ISIS and Al Qaeda as they fought Assad and Hezbollah in Syria. It also provided them with air support and bombarded Assad’s forces all the time.
The United States spent $17.9 billion on military aid to Israel from October 2023 to October 2024.
Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which Julien Assange Wikileaks reveal were funding ISIS in Syria
Julian Assange reported ISIS was created by the CIA.
Syria offered US a partnership to stop ISIS as early as Feb 2010.
In 2012, Jake Sullivan — now Biden’s National Security Advisor — wrote to Hillary Clinton: “Al Qaeda is on our side in Syria.”
One year ago almost to the day, Sullivan bragged that: “The Middle East is quieter today than it has been in two decades.”
“The core of HTS is Nusra, a designated terrorist org. This designation applies regardless of what name it uses or what groups merge into it.” – Tweet
“HTS is a merger and any group that merges into it becomes part of al-Qa’ida’s Syrian network.” – Tweet
“We remain committed to bringing leading AQS figures in HTS to justice.” – Tweet
U.S. Embassy Syria, 16 May 2017: https://t.co/f6EteiE8Zg pic.twitter.com/A98iHnulbK
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) December 8, 2024
h/t External-Noise-4832