Syrian fighter and former al-Qaeda leader seeks broader acceptance in first interview with US journalist

0

For nearly two decades, the life of Abu Mohammad al-Jolani was a roadmap for Islamist militancy in Iraq and Syria. He joined the fight against US forces in Iraq and was imprisoned by the Americans. He became a commander within the group known as the Islamic State of Iraq. He established an al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria and then broke with al-Qaeda and ISI to launch his own group against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The United States has classified him as a terrorist since 2013 and is offering a $10 million reward for information leading to his arrest.

Today, Jolani is the leader of the strongest force in opposition-held Syrian territory. From his base in the northwest corner of the country, he and his organization have fought against Assad’s forces, Assad’s Russian and Iranian allies, and Jolani’s own former allies in ISIS and Al Qaeda.

In his first interview with an American journalist, Jolani told FRONTLINE correspondent Martin Smith that his role in fighting Assad and ISIS and in controlling an area containing millions of displaced Syrians who could potentially become refugees shares interests with the United States and reflect the West.

Jolani told Smith that his group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, poses no threat to the United States and the government should remove him from its list of designated terrorists.

“First and foremost, this region does not pose a threat to the security of Europe and America,” Jolani told Smith. “This region is not a base for conducting foreign jihad.”

Smith traveled to Syria from Turkey and conducted interviews with Jolani on February 1 and 14, 2021. The interviews will form part of an upcoming FRONTLINE documentary exploring Jolani’s rise to become a leading Islamist militant and his efforts, despite his history with al-Qaeda and allegations of human rights abuses, to position himself as a force of influence in Syria’s future.

Smith asked Jolani why people should consider him a leader in Syria when he has been labeled a terrorist by the US, UN and other countries. Calling the terror label “unfair” and “political,” Jolani said that while he has criticized Western policies toward the Middle East, “we didn’t say we wanted to fight.” Jolani said his involvement with al-Qaeda had “ended” and that even in the past his group had been “opposed to conducting operations outside of Syria.”

The interviews took place in Idlib province, where Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Jolani’s group, has been working to establish civil authority through a so-called “salvation government.” Idlib, one of the last remaining pockets of resistance against the Assad regime, has become home to an estimated 3 million civilians, many of whom have fled other parts of Syria. In recent years, Idlib has been attacked by Syrian, Russian and Iranian forces, with Turkey supporting opposition groups, sometimes including Jolani’s group.

Back in December 2012, Jolani’s group, then known as Jabhat al-Nusra, was designated a terrorist organization by the US State Department. Jolani, a Syrian citizen, was designated a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in May 2013. Citing the group’s “violent, sectarian vision,” the State Department said Jolani’s “ultimate goal is to overthrow the Syrian regime and implement Islamist Sharia law across the country,” adding that his group’s suicide bombings “killed innocent Syrian civilians “.

Three years later, Jolani attempted to publicly distance his group from al-Qaeda, renaming it Jabhat Fateh al-Sham. A merger with other Syrian Islamist rebel factions in January 2017 formed the group known as HTS as it exists today.

James Jeffrey, who served as US ambassador under both Republican and Democratic administrations and most recently as special envoy for engagement in Syria and special envoy for the global coalition to counter ISIS during the Trump administration, told Smith that Jolani’s organization was “an asset.” “For him, America’s strategy in Idlib.

“They are the least bad option of the various options on Idlib, and Idlib is one of the most important places in Syria, which is one of the most important places in the Middle East right now,” Jeffrey said in a March 8 interview.

Aaron Y. Zelin, whose research at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy focuses on jihadist groups in North Africa and Syria, told Smith it was hard to know what Jolani’s intentions were “because he was a chameleon.” Zelin said in a March 8 interview, “How can you trust someone who is just trying to survive and stay in power because that’s the only way he can do it?”

Since the conflict in Syria began a decade ago, Assad regime forces and ISIS have committed large-scale human rights abuses. The Assad regime’s actions, Jolani Smith said, fit the definition of terrorism because it “killed innocent people, children, poor people, women.”

Human rights organizations have also documented human rights abuses by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, ranging from indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas to arbitrary arrests.

The United Nations Commission of Inquiry into Syria said it had documented violations such as torture, sexual violence, inhuman or degrading treatment and enforced disappearance or death in custody by HTS since 2011 and its previous incarnations of violations were documented from 2013 to 2019,” it said in the March 2021 report.

The UN commission report also cited HTS’s practice of arbitrarily detaining civilians to quell political dissent, and said 73 cases of detained activists, journalists and media workers who criticized HTS had been documented. It added that activists and media workers who were women faced “double harassment”.

The report said that as HTS lost territory to Assad’s forces, it “accelerated arrest campaigns to subdue the populations in the remaining areas under its control.”

Smith asked Jolani about the accounts of journalists and activists who have been arrested and at times tortured.

Jolani claimed those arrested by HTS were “regime agents”, “Russian agents who come to plant booby traps” or members of ISIS. He called the arrests a target of thieves and extortionists and denied allegations that HTS had persecuted its critics.

In a report released in January 2019, Human Rights Watch interviewed seven former detainees, many of them activists or journalists. Two of them said they were arrested during filming and interrogated about their work as journalists. Neither of them could consult a lawyer. All but one said they had been beaten or physically abused.

Sara Kayyali, Syria researcher for Human Rights Watch, told Smith in a March 18 interview, “We have documented cases where people have detailed their torture and shared images of traces they received while detained in Idlib governorate. “

“There is no torture. I totally reject that,” Jolani told Smith.

Jolani said he will allow international human rights groups access to prisons.

“Human rights organizations could come and inspect the prisons or do a tour,” he said. “Our institutions are open to everyone. Organizations are welcome. Or people interested in the matter can visit and assess the situation. Are things being done right or not?”

Speaking to Human Rights Watch researcher Kayyali and relaying Jolani’s offer, Smith said, “That would be very good if they could go through with it and provide access to both official and unofficial detention centers.”

But she also noted that human rights groups have heard such promises from others before, without being implemented.

Smith also took the opportunity to ask Jolani about Bilal Abdul Kareem, an American journalist who was arrested by HTS in August 2020 and remained in custody at the time of the February 1 interview. Smith asked Jolani if ​​he was willing to release Kareem.

Jolani said, “It’s not my fault. This matter is in the hands of the judiciary.”

A little over two weeks after this interview, on February 17, Kareem was released from prison.


Priyanka Boghani, Deputy Digital Editor, FRONT LINE

Share.

About Author

Comments are closed.