The head of al-Qaeda offshoot Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which currently runs Syria, told Saudi media on Sunday that jihadists would hold elections for up to three years before drawing up a new constitution. He said he expected it could take four years. .
Ahmed al-Sharah, formerly known by the jihadi name 'Abu Mohammed al-Jolani', plans to rebrand his group from a bloodthirsty terrorist organization to a group of upstanding government reformers. He spoke to Saudi news agency Al Arabiya as part of an ongoing media blitz aimed at
Shara'a himself has shed his war nickname and started wearing Western-style suits in public rather than military uniforms, claiming he would help create an “inclusive” government to replace the one HTS had overthrown. He has long been recognized as a terrorist globally, but his designation as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) remains in the United States even after President Joe Biden's administration last week lifted a $10 million reward for his capture. It seems to be maintained. .
Syria was at war from 2011 until November, when HTS launched a surprise attack on Aleppo, Syria's second largest city, and quickly took control of it. Previously, the regime of deposed dictator Bashar al-Assad had successfully quelled the war against Assad after the collapse of the Islamic State in 2017, and had fought with the Kurdish-led Syrian Defense Forces (SDF) and other actors such as Turkey. Only some front lines in between remained active. -Supporting northern militias. The HTS attack on Aleppo exposed the weakness of Assad's forces after years of stalemate, and the terrorists quickly conquered other major cities before reaching Damascus, prompting Assad's flight in early December. It became.
As head of HTS, Sharaa became Syria's de facto leader. While Sharrer insisted that the aim of overthrowing Assad was to install an “inclusive” and possibly democratic government, he did not hesitate to suggest that Syria would now be under an Islamist regime. . tell Before Assad fled the country, CNN reported, “Those who fear Islamic rule are either implementing it incorrectly or do not understand it correctly.”
The impending arrival of an Islamist regime is not welcomed in Damascus, where President Assad ruled with an iron fist but did not systematically repress Christians or ethnic minorities. Civilians in the capital have staged multiple protests demanding respect for Christians, respect for women's rights, and opposition to extremist coercion. sharia Governance.
Sharaa speaking with Al Arabiya shown He said the objective of overthrowing Assad had been achieved and that the HTS would be disbanded and that it and other anti-Assad militias would be integrated into the revamped Syrian National Army. Regarding elections, he indicated that he would hold elections to replace him and his HTS allies. appointed It would take up to four years to run the country at this point. Syria needs a new constitution, he argued, and the return of millions of Syrians who have fled the civil war over the past decade.
“To have a healthy election, we need to conduct a comprehensive census,” he argued. This will require an analysis of the time it takes for refugees to return home and attempts to document the thousands of people Assad has imprisoned, tortured and buried in mass graves over the past decade.
emirates outlet The National observed Sharaa had not provided a specific timeline for elections before this interview, nor had he previously indicated how long he thought it would take for HTS to begin rebuilding the country. .
“Syria will need a year before its citizens will feel a fundamental change in services,” he argued.
Regarding HTS, Shara'a asserted, “Indeed, the organization will be disbanded and this will be announced at the National Dialogue Conference.” Syria should not be a source of confusion for anyone. ” He also noted that the complex network of other militias in the country could be dismantled or integrated into the Syrian army, with the SDF in particular being a promising candidate to be integrated into the army.
The SDF primarily consists of the Syrian Kurdistan People's Protection Units (YPG/YPJ), a Marxist anti-Islamic militia allied with the United States to become the force most instrumental in bringing down the Islamic State caliphate based in northern Raqqa. ) is led by. Although the war with Assad was over, after the fall of Aleppo, the SDF and Turkey's proxy militia, the Syrian National Army (SNA), continued to fight, as the SNA launched an operation to destroy the Kurdish presence along the Turkish border. The battle between them continues. To HTS. Although the Turkish government has traditionally not supported HTS, preferring the more controllable SNA, Islamist President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has openly encouraged Assad's collapse of HTS throughout this month. .
President Erdoğan supports the SNA's war against Kurdistan and claims that the SDF is indistinguishable from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a US-designated Marxist terrorist organization. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last week promised to bury SDF troops “with their weapons on Syrian soil” if Syria's Kurds do not abandon their lands.
Al Arabiya challenged Sharar on the contrast between his insistence on building an “inclusive” government and the proliferation of Islamist clerics and HTS fighters who have consolidated power since the fall of Assad. chanted. Sharaa excused the situation by arguing that the country's urgent need to survive after Assad fled to Russia meant he needed to rely on HTS leaders to seize key government powers.
“The current appointments are essential at this time and it was not our intention to exclude anyone,” he said. claimed.
Mr. Sharaa also expressed his hope to improve relations between HTS and the US government. He expressed optimism that President-elect Donald Trump would cooperate with Syria's new government by not treating his group as terrorists.
“I hope the next Trump administration does not follow the policies of its predecessor,” he reportedly said.
