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December 9, 2024 | 09:48 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Abu Mohammed al-Golani, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Julani, is the leader of Syria’s insurgency group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), against the ruling regime of President Bashar al-Assad. Successfully capturing Syria’s second-largest city, Aleppo, Abu Mohammed al-Golani has become an icon of rebels.
Citing Reuters, Abu Mohammed al-Julani was a prominent figure from the al Qaeda faction before he went into a gradual rebranding as an advocate of tolerance and pluralism. Instead of upholding the “Islamic republic” belief in Syria, Abu Mohammad al-Golani promises protection to the insurgents, claiming “the future is ours,” in a recent statement read on Syria’s state TV.
Past endeavors of Abu Mohammed al-Golani
Born to a Syrian family in 1982 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, al-Gholani, whose real name is Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa, joined al-Qaeda in Iraq in 2003.
The U.S. forces in Iraq captured al-Golani in 2006 for his resistance efforts against the West invasion, resulting in a five-year detention period. Upon the release of al-Golani, he was then sent back to Syria to form the al-Nusra Front.
Much like any other opposition fighter, his first media interview with Al Jazeera had al-Golani’s identity concealed in a scarf with only his back facing the camera. He had advocated for governing Syria to be run based on sharia law, which led to a discussion of the dismissal of the country’s minorities like Christians and Alawis.
The rebrand of Abu Mohammed al-Golani
Now standing at the front barricade of Syria's liberated crowds, Abu Mohammed al-Golani had spent an ample amount of time as a part of the al Qaeda forces in Iraq.
When the revolt scheme began to perpetuate Syria, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, the then leader of the Islamic State faction in Iraq, assigned al-Golani to build up al Qaeda’s presence in Syria.
Al-Golani then founded the al-Nusra Front, which later became known as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), to accommodate the establishment of al-Qaeda’s presence in Syria.
In recent years, Abu Mohammed al-Golani, alongside HTS had emerged as the ambitious caretakers of Syria liberated from al-Assad, completely cutting all its ties with al-Qaeda, as per Al Jazeera.
During an interview with the U.S. Public Broadcasting Service’s FRONTLINE program, al-Golani voiced his stance, detailing that the terrorist designation was unfair and that he opposed the killing of innocent people.
Taken from Reuters, he mentioned that his group had never presented a threat to the West: "I repeat—our involvement with al Qaeda has ended, and even when we were with al Qaeda, we were against carrying out operations outside of Syria."
Al Jazeera also shared that, despite currently proposing a nationalist brand, HTS is still labeled a terrorist faction by the United Nations, Turkey, the U.S., and the European Union. This designation evokes mixed reactions from third-party perspectives worldwide.
REUTERS | AL JAZEERA
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