The 43-year-old's notoriety on the battlefield follows years of maneuvering between extremist organizations as he eliminated competitors and former allies.
By Kareem Chehayeb
For the past twelve years, the Syrian insurgent leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani has worked to reshape his public image and the insurgency he commands, renouncing his former ties to Al Qaeda and consolidating his power before emerging from the shadows.
Now, al-Golani, 42, is seeking to seize the moment once again, leading his fighters in a surprise offensive that has given them control of Syria's second-largest city, reigniting the country's long civil war and raising new questions about the president's power. Bashar Assad.
The offensive and al-Golani's position at the forefront are evidence of a remarkable transformation. Al-Golani's success on the battlefield follows years of maneuvering among extremist organizations as he eliminated competitors and former allies.
Along the way, he distanced himself from Al Qaeda, burnishing his image and his extremist group's de facto "salvation government" in an attempt to win over international governments and the country's religious and ethnic minorities.
Presenting himself as a defender of pluralism and tolerance, al-Golani attempted to expand public support and legitimacy for his group.
But Syrian opposition forces based in the northwest of the country have failed to make significant military progress against Assad for years. The Damascus government, backed by Iran and Russia, has maintained control over about 70 percent of the territory in a stalemate that has left al-Golani and his jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, out of the spotlight.
But the rebel advance on Aleppo and nearby towns, along with a coalition of Turkish-backed armed groups called the Syrian National Army, has shaken the tense calm and raised concerns among the war-torn country's neighbours, Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon, about a possible expansion of the conflict.
The Beginnings of Al-Golani in Iraq
La The relationship between al-Golani and al-Qaeda dates back to 2003, when he joined extremists fighting U.S. troops in Iraq. Born in Syria, he was detained several times by the U.S. military but remained in Iraq. During that time, al-Qaeda co-opted like-minded groups and formed the extremist Islamic State of Iraq, led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
In 2011, a popular uprising against Assad in Syria triggered a brutal government crackdown and led to all-out war. Al-Golani's importance grew when al-Baghdadi sent him to Syria to establish an al-Qaeda affiliate called the Nusra Front.The United States has labeled the new group a terrorist organization. That designation remains in effect, and Washington has placed a $10 million bounty on it.
The Nusra Front and the Syrian conflict
As the Syrian civil war escalated in 2013, so did al-Golani’s ambitions. He defied al-Baghdadi’s calls to disband the Nusra Front and merge it with al-Qaeda’s organization in Iraq, to form the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.
Syrian opposition fighters stand next to old military aircraft at Al-Nayrab military airport after taking control of the facility, outside Aleppo, Dec. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)
However, al-Golani pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda, which later disassociated itself from ISIS. The Nusra Front fought ISIS and eliminated much of its competition among the armed Syrian opposition to Assad. In his first interview in 2014, al-Golani kept his face covered and told a reporter from the Qatari network Al-Jazeera that he rejected political talks in Geneva to end the conflict. He said that His goal was to see Syria governed by Islamic law and made clear that there was no room for the country's Alawite, Shia, Druze and Christian minorities.
Consolidation of power and image renewal
In 2016, al-Golani showed his face to the public for the first time. in a video message in which he announced that His group was renamed Jabhat Fateh al-Sham and cut its ties with Al Qaeda..
“This new organization has no affiliation with any outside entity,” he said in the recording, in which he appears dressed in military fatigues and a turban.
This step paved the way for al-Golani to assume full control over fractured insurgent groups. A year later, his alliance rebranded itself as HTS as the militias merged, consolidating its leader’s power in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province.
HTS later clashed with independent Islamist militants who opposed the merger, further cementing al-Golani and his group as the major power in their area, capable of ruling with an iron fist.
In 2016, al-Golani showed his face to the public for the first time.
With his power consolidated, al-Golani launched a transformation that few could have imagined. Replacing his military clothes with shirts and trousers, he began to advocate religious tolerance and pluralism.He appealed to the Druze community in Idlib, which the Nusra Front had previously attacked, and visited the families of Kurds who were killed by Turkey-backed militias.
In 2021, she gave her first interview to an American journalist on PBS. Dressed in a blazer and with his short hair combed back, the now restrained HTS leader said his group posed no threat to the West and that sanctions imposed against it were unfair.
“Yes, we have criticised Western policies,” he said. “But waging war against the United States or Europe from Syria, that is not true. We did not say we wanted to fight.”
(with information from AP)
Source: INFOBAE
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