Jump to content

Ahmed al-Sharaa

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
His Excellency

Ahmed al-Sharaa
أحمد الشرع
Al-Sharaa in 2024
20th President of Syria
Assumed office
29 January 2025
Prime MinisterMohammed al-Bashir
Vice PresidentNone
Preceded byBashar al-Assad[a]
2nd Emir of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham
In office
1 October 2017 – 29 January 2025
Preceded byAbu Jaber Shaykh
Succeeded byPosition abolished
Emir of the al-Nusra Front[b]
In office
23 January 2012 – 28 January 2017
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byPosition abolished
Personal details
Born
Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa

(1982-10-29) 29 October 1982 (age 42)
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Political partyIndependent
Other political
affiliations		Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (2016–2025)
ParentsHussein al-Sharaa (father)
RelativesMaher al-Sharaa (brother)
Signature
Nickname(s)Abu Mohammad al-Julani
Allegiance
Formerly
Years of service2003–present
RankCommander-in-chief (HTS)
Battles/wars
See list

Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa (born 29 October 1982), also known by his kunya Abu Mohammad al-Julani,[c] is a Syrian politician and militant leader who has been the 20th President of Syria since 2025. He was also the militant leader of the militant group Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham.

Al-Sharaa was born to a Syrian Sunni Muslim family from the Golan Heights, and grew up in the capital, Damascus. Shortly before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, he joined al-Qaeda and fought for three years in the Iraqi insurgency. American forces captured and imprisoned him from 2006 to 2011. His release happened around the same time as the Syrian revolution, and he created the al-Nusra Front in 2012 with the support of al-Qaeda to take part in the Syrian civil war against the Ba'athist government of Bashar al-Assad. Before he cut ties with al-Qaeda in 2016,[6] he was the emir of the defunct Jabhat al-Nusra, the official group that repersented al-Qaeda in Syria.[7]

Early life

[change | change source]

Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa was born on 29 October 1982 in Riyadh to a middle-class family.[8][9][10] His father worked there as an oil engineer, and his mother was a geography teacher.[11] The family returned to Syria in 1989.[12]

He enrolled at Damascus University, studying media studies and medicine for two years before moving to Iraq in 2003.[8][11][12]

Iraq War activities

[change | change source]

Al-Sharaa said that he was "radicalized" by the Palestinian Second Intifada in 2000 when he was 17 or 18 years old.[13][14] Having supported the 9/11 attacks at first, al-Sharaa went to Baghdad by bus just weeks before the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, where he quickly became a well known member of al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI).[13] Some say he he had a close connection with AQI leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi,[15] however he denied this saying he was only a foot-soldier under al-Qaeda against American occupation.[16]

In 2003, al-Sharaa was arrested and questioned by the Military Intelligence Directorate for his illegal departure from Syria to Iraq, he was released after he said he was not part of any extremist groups.[17] Before the Iraqi civil war began in 2006, al-Sharaa was arrested by American forces and imprisoned for over five years in many detention centres and prisons.[18][19][20][21]

Presidency

[change | change source]

On 8 December, Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali announced that the Syrian government would hand over power to a new elected government following the Fall of Damascus.[22] On the same day, Al-Sharaa delivered a speech at Damascus's Umayyad Mosque, calling the fall of Assad's regime "a new chapter in the history of the region". On 9 December, HTS released a video of al-Sharaa, al-Jalali and Mohammed al-Bashir, the head of the de facto government in Idlib.[23] On 12 December, al-Sharaa met with Turkish officials, which made this the first diplomatic delegation since Assad was removed from power.[24]

Until 2024, the United States named Al-Sharaa a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist".[25] They placed a $10 million reward for information that could lead to him being arrested four years after.[26][27] On 20 December 2024, the United States removed the $10 million reward it had previously offered for the arrest of al-Sharaa.[28]

On 29 January 2025, Al-Sharaa was appointed as the 20th president of Syria for the transitional government.[29][30]

Views

[change | change source]

In 2016, when al-Sharaa ended his connection with al-Qaeda, he focused on international support by focusing on governance in Syria rather than transnational jihadism. He supports a technocratic administration in the territory.[31] In recent years, he has become more moderate, saying he does not support going into war against Western nations, and supports protecting Syria's minorities.[32][33][34]

When talking about the ongoing Israeli airstrikes on Syria, al-Sharaa said that after the fall of the Assad regime, Israel no longer has "any excuses" for attacking Syrian territory. He also supports "diplomatic solutions" as the only way to have security instead of "[bad] military adventures".[35][36] Al-Sharaa reportedly told a group of journalists that his transitional government would continue to support the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement that ended the Yom Kippur War.[37]

Notes

[change | change source]
  1. ↑ Vacant from 8 December 2024 to 28 January 2025.
  2. ↑ Renamed "Jabhat Fateh al-Sham" from 28 July 2016.
  3. ↑ also transliterated as Joulani, Jolani, and Golani[5]

References

[change | change source]
  1. ↑ "State Department amends terror designation for al Nusrah Front | FDD's Long War Journal". June 2018. Archived from the original on 26 February 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  2. ↑ "What to Know About the Man Who Toppled Assad".
  3. ↑ "What to Know About the Man Who Toppled Assad | the Washington Institute".
  4. ↑ "Search results".
  5. ↑ "Who is Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the leader of Syria's shock insurgency?". AP News. 4 December 2024. Retrieved 7 December 2024.
  6. ↑ "Al-Nusra leader Jolani announces split from al-Qaeda". Al Jazeera. 29 July 2016. Archived from the original on 3 December 2022.
  7. ↑ "Syrian Nusra Front announces split from al-Qaeda". BBC News. 29 July 2016. Archived from the original on 30 July 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Al-Atrush, Samer; Spencer, Richard (11 December 2024). "Who is Abu Mohammed al-Jolani? 'Polite' Syrian leader heads home". The Times. Archived from the original on 18 December 2024. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
  9. ↑
  10. ↑ "Ahmad al-Sharaa reveals his true date of birth" (in Arabic). An-Nahar. 30 December 2024. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Hassan, Hassan (8 December 2024). "Profile: Abu Mohammad al-Jolani". The Sunday Telegraph.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "بعد شهور.. الجولاني يكشف عن أسرار حياته لمارتن سميث". Al Alam TV. 5 June 2021. Archived from the original on 7 June 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Raya Jalabi (7 December 2024). "Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, the Syrian rebel leader hoping to overthrow Assad". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 6 December 2024.
  14. ↑ Salem, Mostafa (6 December 2024). "How Syria's rebel leader went from radical jihadist to a blazer-wearing 'revolutionary'". CNN News.
  15. ↑ "Elusive Al-Qaeda leader in Syria stays in shadows". Times of Israel. 4 November 2013. Archived from the original on 24 December 2018.
  16. ↑ "Interview-Abu Mohammad al-Jolani". PBS Frontline. 2 April 2021. Most of the information available on the internet is false... No, I didn't meet Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was mostly present in Fallujah and Ramadi and around this region, and I was in Mosul during that time. I was a regular soldier. I wasn't involved in any major operations that I would meet al-Zarqawi.
  17. ↑ Elamin, Hazem; Nasreddine, Hala (26 December 2024). "Al-Joulani's File at the Palestine Branch in Syria: A Cunning Personality Evades The Regime's Intelligence - Daraj". Daraj. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
  18. ↑ Klausen, Jytte (2021). "11: The ISIS Effect". Western Jihadism: A Thirty-Year History. Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. p. 399. ISBN 978-0-19-887079-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  19. ↑ "Interview-Abu Mohammad al-Jolani". PBS Frontline. 2 April 2021.
  20. ↑ "Who is Abu Mohammed al-Julani, leader of HTS in Syria?". Al Jazeera. 4 December 2024. Archived from the original on 14 December 2024.
  21. ↑ Jalabi, Raya (8 December 2024). "Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, the Syrian rebel leader". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 12 December 2024.
  22. ↑ "Ex-Syrian PM to supervise state bodies until transition". Al Jazeera. 8 December 2024. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  23. ↑ Saleh, Heba; Jalabi, Raya (9 December 2024). "Syrian rebels seek to consolidate control". Financial Times. Retrieved 9 December 2024.
  24. ↑ Ula, enab10 (12 December 2024). "Turkish delegation meets with Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus". Enab Baladi. Retrieved 13 December 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  25. ↑ "Terrorist Designation of Al-Nusrah Front Leader Muhammad Al-Jawlani". U.S. Department of State. Archived from the original on 2019-08-22. Retrieved 2017-06-24.
  26. ↑ "U.S. offers $10M reward for information on al-Nusra leader". UPI.com. Archived from the original on 2017-05-11. Retrieved 2017-05-10.
  27. ↑ "Muhammad al-Jawlani". Rewards for Justice. Archived from the original on 20 August 2021. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  28. ↑ Bateman, Tom (20 December 2024). "US scraps $10m bounty for arrest of Syria's new leader Sharaa". BBC. Retrieved 21 December 2024.
  29. ↑ "الشرع رئيسا لسوريا وحل الفصائل وحزب البعث وتعطيل الدستور" [Sharaa as President of Syria, dissolving factions and the Baath Party, and suspending the constitution]. Al Jazeera Arabic (in Arabic). 29 January 2025. Retrieved 29 January 2025.
  30. ↑ "Syria's Sharaa declared president for transitional period, state news agency says". Reuters. 29 January 2025. Retrieved 29 January 2025.
  31. ↑ Rasgon, Adam; Abdulrahim, Raja (8 December 2024). "Who Is the Leader of Syria's Rebel Offensive?". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 8 December 2024. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
  32. ↑ Karadsheh, Jomana; Tuysuz, Gul; Laine, Brice; Kent, Lauren; Kourdi, Eyad (6 December 2024). "Syrian rebel leader says goal is to 'overthrow' Assad regime". CNN. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
  33. ↑ Taylor, Adam (6 December 2024). "Who is Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, the Islamist rebel leading the Syrian advance?". The Washington Post.
  34. ↑ Abdulrahim, Raja (6 December 2024). "Leader of Syria's Resurgent Rebels Lays Out Strategy to Oust Assad". The New York Times.
  35. ↑ "Syrian rebel leader: Israel has 'no more excuses' to strike, we don't seek conflict". The Times of Israel. 14 December 2024.
  36. ↑ Cornish, Chloe; Shotter, James; Yackley, Ayla Jean; Dadouch, Sarah (15 December 2024). "Syria is not interested in conflict with Israel, rebel leader suggests". Financial Times. Retrieved 22 December 2024.
  37. ↑ "Syria's al-Julani vows adherence to 1974 agreement with Israel". Jewish News Syndicate. 17 December 2024. Retrieved 20 December 2024.

Other websites

[change | change source]
Retrieved from "https://simple.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ahmed_al-Sharaa&oldid=10051678"