Beirut (AP) – As an Al -Qaida fighter in Iraq, he was arrested by the American army. As the leader of a terrorist group appointed by the United States fighting in the civil war in Syria, he had a bonus of $ 10 million on his head.
As a fast-evolving Syria, Ahmad al-Sharaa shook hands with US President Donald Trump on WednesdayWho described it later as a “young and attractive” with a “very strong past”.
The handshake, during a meeting orchestrated by the leaders of Saudi Arabia and Turkey, captured the long journey of Al-Sharaa of the jihadist hardened to the head of a country which gradually loses its pariah status while it cements the main American allies in the Middle East.
Trump said that he would raise paralyzing sanctions which have been imposed on the government of the Syrian president filed Bashar Assad, which was overthrown in Decemberexpressing the hope that Al-Sharaa, who directed the insurrection, can move Syria in a new direction.
“He has a real shot to keep him together,” said Trump. “He is a real leader. He led a charge, and he is quite incredible.”
The news sparked celebrations across Syria, where the economy was ravaged by 14 years of civil war and international isolation. But Al-Sharaa still faces intimidating challenges to the construction of the kind of Pacific and tolerant Syria He promised.
From the al-Qaida extremist to the statesman
Before overthrowing Assad, Al-Sharaa was known under the jihadist nickname that he adopted, Abu Mohammed al-Golani. His links with Al-Qaida date back to 2003 when he joined the insurrection after the invasion led by the United States of Iraq.
He helped Al-Qaida to form a ramification in Iraq which attacked both American forces and the country’s Shiite majority, often using bombs by car and trucks. He was arrested by the United States and held for more than five years without being charged.
Iraqi chief of the group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, sent Al-Sharaa to his native Syria in 2011 after a popular uprising led to a brutal repression and finally to a full-fledged civil war. There, Al-Sharaa established a branch of al-Qaida known as the Nusra front.
The two insurgent leaders had a brutal collapse when Al-Sharaa refused to join the Islamic State group of Al-Baghdadi and remained faithful to the central management of Al-Qaida. The Nusra front then fought the Islamic State group.
In his first interview in 2014 on the Qatari network Al Jazeera, he kept his covered face and declared that Syria should be governed by Islamic law, an alarming perspective for Christian, Allawites and Druze minorities. Al-Sharaa also said that he could not trust Gulf and other Arab leaders who, according to him, sold Washington to stay in power.
“They paid a tax, these Arab leaders, in the United States,” he said.
But in the following years, he began to revive himself and the armed group he managed. In 2016, he announced that he had broken the ties with Al-Qaida. He began to appear in the Masked and the military costumes, and changed the name of his group in Hayat Tahrir Al -Sham – the Liberation Organization of Syria – when it consolidated the control of a northwest band of Syria.
His transformation – political and clothing – continued in 2021, when he gave an interview to an American network. This time, he appeared in a shirt and pants, with his short hair back, and said that his group did not threaten any threat to the West. He also called for the lifting of sanctions against Syria.
A promise of change, but many obstacles
After managing the lightning insurrection which overthrew Assad, Al-Sharaa promised a new Syria.
He swore to rid the country of Iranian influence and armed groups supported by Iran such as the Lebanese militia of Hezbollah. He promised an inclusive representative government which would allow the many ethnic and religious groups of the country to live in peace.
Washington raised the designation of terrorism of weeks after taking power, and it was adopted by Turkey and Saudi Arabia, including the de facto chief, the Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, organized Wednesday’s meeting with Trump.
But the difficulties were intimidating.
Fourteen years of war have left large ruined areas and, with sanctions, have devastated the economy. To an estimate 90% of the population lives in poverty. The reign of Assad and the civil war also left deep cracks between the country’s Sunni minority and the Alawite minority which Assad was greeted and which benefited from his reign. These rifts have proven to be difficult to heal.
Al-Sharaa formed a transitional government which gave positions to the minorities but was dominated by its inner circle.
A Constitutional declaration Later, the Al-Sharaa’s powers expanded and declared that Islamic law would remain at the heart of the legislation for an intermediary period of five years. Al-Sharaa argued that the measures were necessary to stabilize the country, while many criticisms considered it a takeover.
“It seems that many of the measures taken have been precipitated and performative rather than offering a real significant change in Syria,” said Lara Nelson, director of policies of the Syrian research group and policy. “There are concerns about authoritarian consolidation.”
Sectarian clashes while tensions of civil war persist
The biggest test for Al-Sharaa came in early March, when the country witnessed its The worst sectarian clashes since the fall of Assad.
After the security forces crushed an armed rebellion, apparently led by Loyalists of Assad, on the Mediterranean coast mainly Alawite, fighters loyal to the new government have made a wave of murders of revenge.
More than 1,000 people were killed over two days, mainly allawites civilians. Videos have surfaced online showing fire houses and bodies in the streets. Others have shown that Alawites was gathered, laughed and beaten.
A few weeks later, the clashes broke out between fighters faithful to the government and the Druze minority living in the suburbs of Damascus. Such incidents took place elsewhere in the country.
In the meantime, Israel has invading southern Syria And made a wave of air strikes which, according to him, aim to destroy the country’s military capacities and the armed groups which could constitute a threat. A strike struck near the presidential palace earlier this month.
Al-Sharaa opened an investigation into sectarian violence on the coast and reached a colony with the Druze. These steps have calmed things for the moment. But intestinal violence and the incursions of Israel gave a feeling among many Syrians that there is a security vacuum.
Even if he praised Al-Sharaa, Trump recognized the enormous challenges he faces.
“I think they have to straighten,” said Trump. “They have a lot of work to do.”