Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the Islamist leader who led the blitzkrieg across Syria, has a long history of extremism despite recent calls for moderate policies.
“Golani is a specially designated global terrorist,” Long War Journal editor-in-chief Bill Roggio told Fox News Digital. “He was a member of al-Qaeda… There's a reason the United States has him on the list.”
Roggio's comments come as Islamic rebels led by Golani's organization Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) led attacks across Syria, resulting in the capture of the capital Demascus and the government of Bashar al-Assad, who has fled Syria. It was announced after leading to the overthrow of the. On Saturday, rebel forces approached the city.
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Abu Mohammed al-Golani inspects the damage after an earthquake in the village of Besnaya in Syria's rebel-held northwestern Idlib province on the border with Turkey on February 7, 2023. (Omar Haji Kadour/AFP) , via Getty Images)
The Guardian reported that Golani first became attracted to jihadist ideas after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.
He left Syria and joined al-Qaeda in Iraq, but returned to his home country in 2011 during the uprising against the Assad regime and eventually joined al-Qaeda's Ayman al-Zawahiri side in 2013.
Mr. Golani severed ties with al-Qaeda in 2016, and in 2017 led the merger of HTS in northwestern Syria with other Islamist groups, seizing control of territory that had fallen from government control during the long civil war. I will put it in.
The U.S. State Department designated Geolani a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in May 2013, citing his leadership in multiple terrorist attacks across Syria, often targeting civilians.
Combatants enter Rashidin district on the outskirts of Aleppo on November 29, 2024. (Bakr Alkasem/AFP via Getty Images)
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But terror leaders have attempted to strike a more moderate tone in recent years, a trend that continued even as rebels launched a full-scale offensive across Syria.
“No one has the right to erase other groups,” Golani said in an interview with CNN on Friday, referring to Syria's religious minorities. “These sects have coexisted in the region for hundreds of years, but eliminating them No one has the right to do that.”
But Mr. Roggio said there was little evidence that a moderate tone would continue with rebels in charge of Syria, and insisted that Mr. Geroni was playing good politics.
“He plays the moderate game very well, but he is a global jihadist. He is an expert at manipulating people,” Roggio said.
On December 2, 2024, rebel forces in northwestern Syria seized a regime military vehicle along the route to Kweris Airport in the eastern countryside of Aleppo. (Rami Alsayed/NurPhoto via APRami Alsayed/NurPhoto via AP)
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Roggio acknowledged that Syrians have good reason to root for Assad's fall, but concerns now turn to what happens next for the long-suffering people.
“It's understandable that many Syrians are excited about the fall of Assad. He was a monster,” Roggio said. “But they're going to realize that his replacement isn't that good.”
