Syria’s President al-Sharaa: A former jihadist as a beacon of hope? | EUROtoday

As of: December 8, 2025 9:27 a.m

Ahmed al-Sharaa has been on the helm of Syria for a 12 months: a former jihadist who presents himself as a statesman. He rapidly achieved worldwide rehabilitation. But the place is he taking the nation?

“Do you have any doubts?” asks Ahmed al-Sharaa with a slight smile when a reporter asks him about what might be essentially the most quoted characterization of himself from the pen of US President Donald Trump: Attractive, younger, powerful man, sturdy previous.

Strong previous is a trivialization of what al-Sharaa, nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, has behind him: The USA had positioned a bounty of ten million US {dollars} on the as soon as needed terrorist. Al-Sharaa doesn’t deny his previous – and possibly doesn’t remorse it both. “I didn’t hurt any civilians,” al-Sharaa stated just lately in Doha.

Contacts with IS

Al-Sharaa was born in Saudi Arabia within the early Eighties; his father got here from the Golan Heights. As a younger man, al-Sharaa went to review in Baghdad, turned radicalized there and spent years in US navy prisons in Iraq. Behind bars he met Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, the founding father of the Islamic State terrorist militia. Al-Sharaa moved to Syria and arrange his personal militia there – the Al-Nusra Front.

Instead of IS, al-Sharaa and his Nusra Front joined the terrorist group al-Qaeda – the Nusra Front was thought of the Syrian arm of the jihadist terror community. Al-Sharaa’s said purpose even again then was to overthrow the Assad regime in Syria.

Al-Sharaa later cut up from al-Qaeda, modified the title of its militia from Nusra to HTS (Hayat Tahrir al-Sham) and took management of the Syrian province of Idlib. There he constructed one thing like his personal small state – with administrative buildings and authorities.

Jihadist in a go well with?

A 12 months in the past, the unprecedented offensive towards the Assad regime: inside a number of days, the jihadists overran Syria, first taking on the town of Aleppo, just a little later Hama, then Homs, and eventually Damascus. Long-time dictator Bashar al-Assad fled to Moscow. Since then, Syria’s new chief has been known as Ahmed al-Sharaa and is asking for social cohesion.

The beard has turn into shorter, the battle title is historical past. Now the previous jihadist is sporting a black go well with and tie and is emphatically average. “My impression after a few meetings with him is that he is more of a power person than an ideologue,” stated former US ambassador to Syria Robert Ford. “But that doesn’t mean he’s not an Islamist.” However, he understood that he wanted assist from the West and from the Gulf states.

No regret, lack of processing

But can al-Sharaa be trusted when he speaks of a Syria for all Syrians? Above all, the dearth of coming to phrases with each our personal previous and the nation’s previous is sharply criticized by some activists. “He claims that he doesn’t regret his past – and that says a lot,” stated human rights activist Farah Youssef on France 24. If you might be unable to apologize to the victims, the query stays: “How do you want to be a civilian head of state?” In truth, each the Assad crimes and the massacres of Alawites within the spring are being handled solely slowly.

Many observers describe al-Sharaa as a pragmatist who needs to steer Syria right into a extra peaceable future – though there are doubts as as to whether this might be democratic. Rather, al-Sharaa might mannequin himself as a type of Islamo-capitalist on the management of the wealthy Gulf states.

No democracy – not but?

In Syria, al-Sharaa is barely at the start of many issues: components of the nation are nonetheless in ruins and reconstruction is barely getting off to a gradual begin. After all, the ability provide has just lately stabilized. But a big a part of the inhabitants lives beneath the poverty line, i.e. on lower than two US {dollars} a day. The schooling and well being techniques are underfunded. Economically, there may be slight progress after many sanctions have been lifted, however that is nonetheless not reaching all residents.

Politically, one 12 months after the autumn of Assad, the nation continues to be removed from being a democracy. In the parliamentary election held within the fall, among the representatives had been appointed immediately by al-Sharaa and others had been elected by means of predetermined electors – so the president had a direct and oblique affect on the outcome. The goal now could be to develop a everlasting structure in Syria based mostly on the interim structure – in keeping with al-Sharaa, there might be elections in a number of years.

The structure will present how Islamic the state in Syria ought to be. Minorities are very involved about this – there was violence a number of instances previously twelve months, and many don’t belief al-Sharaa as a frontrunner.

Tensions inside our personal ranks

Al-Sharaa’s largest problem is its personal ranks. He should attempt to hold the assorted Sunni militias and actions within the nation below management and unite them. And Syria stays fragmented: up to now, al-Sharaa solely controls round two-thirds of the nation’s territory. Israel is within the south, the Kurds maintain massive areas within the north, Turkey co-rules components of the north, and there are Russian and US navy bases within the nation. How unresolved many conflicts are is proven by the truth that the Kurds have already declared that they won’t have a good time December eighth because the day of the liberation from Assad.

Another problem is coping with Israel. Since the autumn of the Assad regime, Israel has bombed quite a few targets in Syria, but al-Sharaa has averted confrontation and signaled its willingness to conclude an settlement with Israel. These are phrases which can be nicely acquired within the USA, however al-Sharaa may very well be harmful in its personal nation. Such a reserved place may very well be perceived by most of the extra radical supporters as a “weak position or even betrayal,” says Andre Bank from the Giga Institute in Hamburg.

Contacts on all sides

Internationally, al-Sharaa strives to keep up good contacts with all sides – not simply with the USA. He was additionally just lately a visitor in Moscow and shook the hand of his former opponent Vladimir Putin. Russia had deserted its earlier ally Assad, which enabled the HTS to advance.

Al-Sharaa is aware of that he’s depending on help from many quarters to rebuild Syria and his private future. The street forward of him and Syria continues to be lengthy. He himself admitted that Syria has many issues, difficulties and obstacles. It just isn’t a secure, established state, however is barely creating in that course – and that can take a number of extra years.