Sharaa became president after his terrorist organization, the al-Qaeda offshoot Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), toppled the Iran-and Russia-linked regime of former dictator Bashar Assad, who fled to Moscow in December. Assad’s family ruled the country for over half a century and Assad himself presided over a civil war featuring over 10 warring interests that lasted over a decade. HTS, following its victory, has in effect been disbanded, as its leaders are now the government of Syria.
Following the defeat of the Assad regime, Sharaa shed his jihadi nom de guerre “Abu Mohammed al-Jolani,” began wearing Western-style suits, and has focused almost exclusively on attracting foreign investment for post-war reconstruction. To that end, he has offered positive statements towards the United States and President Donald Trump in particular, first meeting the American head of state in May. Trump described Sharaa on that occasion as a “young, attractive guy” who had “a real shot” at bringing the nation out of years of destitution.
While emphasizing the need for international financial help, Sharaa is leading an Islamist government and has denied that Islamism is a threat to the nation’s Christians, Alawite Shias, Druze, or other religious groups. Damascus adopted an Islamist constitution in March and has imposed some sharia, or Islamic law, but rejected a fundamentalist adaptation in the manner of the Taliban in Afghanistan. In June, for example, Sharaa’s government mandated that women must wear “burqinis” at the beach, but also banned men from taking off their shirts in the same venues. (Read More)
