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Why Hayat Tahrir al-Sham Should Stay on U.S. Terrorist List for Now

(Washington Institute for Near East Policy) Matthew Levitt - Now that Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) controls most of Syria, there is a huge scramble to determine whether and how the group and its top officials should be removed from U.S. and international terrorist lists. As officials look back at the group's convoluted presence on various terrorism lists, they should consider why it has appeared on so many of them. In July 2011, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi - then the leader of the Islamic State in Iraq (ISI), previously known as al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) - sent Abu Mohammed al-Jolani to spearhead his group's entry into Syria. This was the same Jolani who, as head of HTS, appears to be Syria's next leader. In 2011, Jolani was named the leader of ISI's new Syrian offshoot Jabhat al-Nusra (JN). According to the U.S. State Department, JN "claimed nearly 600 attacks" in Syria in its first year of operations, "ranging from more than 40 suicide attacks to small arms and improvised explosive device operations." Delisting from the U.S. terrorist list should be earned, not gifted. The nascent HTS-led government has much to prove to the country's citizenry, to Syria's neighbors, and to the international community. The writer is director of the Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence at The Washington Institute.
2024-12-22 00:00:00
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