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Syria's Rebel Leader Is No Moderate

(Wall Street Journal) David Adesnik and Bill Roggio - Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani is leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the U.S.-designated terrorist organization that overthrew Bashar al-Assad this month. Once head of al-Qaeda's branch in Syria, Jawlani supposedly broke with the organization in 2016. The U.S. shouldn't consider removing the terror designation and associated sanctions unless Jawlani publicly denounces al-Qaeda, rejects jihadism and ensures Syria doesn't become a sanctuary for terrorists. That is unlikely to happen, as Jawlani is no moderate. In 2016, during the address in which he supposedly broke with al-Qaeda, Jawlani expressed his gratitude to Ayman al-Zawahiri, who helped plan the 9/11 attacks and succeeded Osama bin Laden as al-Qaeda's leader after 2011. Jawlani extolled Zawahiri for putting into practice the principles taught by bin Laden. Few have paid attention to the jihadist outfits, mainly Central Asian fighters, that were part of Jawlani's coalition during the march from Idlib to Damascus. Among these is the Turkistan Islamic Party, whose leader sits on al-Qaeda's main advisory council. Five other groups within the coalition are on the U.S. terror blacklist. Washington should wait and see whether the new government continues offering sanctuary to foreign terrorist organizations and surrenders the last of the Assad regime's chemical weapons. David Adesnik is vice president of research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Bill Roggio is a senior fellow at the foundation and editor of its Long War Journal.
2024-12-31 00:00:00
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