Above photo: Mohamed Azakir/Reuters.
Syria’s de facto authorities recently promoted foreign extremists to high ranks in the new armed forces.
Outgoing US President Joe Biden will not lift the terrorist designation of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) US officials revealed on 8 January, leaving the decision to the government of President-elect Donald Trump.
Senior officials who spoke with the Washington Post said HTS “must demonstrate they have made a clean break with extremist groups, in particular Al-Qaeda before the label can be lifted.” “Actions will speak louder than words,” an unnamed official told the US daily.
According to the reports, Washington has “lingering concerns” after Syria’s de facto new ruler Ahmad al-Sharaa – the former deputy commander of ISIS and founder of Al-Qaeda in Syria – green-lighted the promotion of foreign extremists to the ranks of officers in the newly formed armed forces.
Days after the fall of the Syrian government and the rise of HTS, Sharaa called on foreigners who joined HTS to receive Syrian citizenship, saying they are “part of the movement that led to the downfall of Assad and should be celebrated.”
As part of the US-backed covert war on the former Syrian government, ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi dispatched his deputy Abu Mohammad al-Julani – Sharaa’s nom de guerre – and a group of extremist fighters from Iraq to Syria in August 2011 to establish the Nusra Front, Al-Qaeda’s official branch in Syria.
Sharaa’s group, which he would later rebrand as HTS, carried out suicide bombing attacks in Damascus in December 2011 and January 2012 before announcing their existence. Thousands of Salafist religious extremists from dozens of countries, including Britain, Belgium, France, China, Chechnya, Tunisia, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Saudi Arabia, joined Sharaa in the fight against Damascus.
HTS took control of Syria following a successful coup against the government of Bashar al-Assad last month. In the weeks since, senior officials from the US, Europe, and the Persian Gulf have traveled to Damascus to meet with Sharaa and offer their support for the de facto government.
Washington also lifted a $10 million bounty on Sharaa’s head.
“Based on our discussion, I told him we would not be pursuing the Rewards for Justice reward offer that has been in effect for some years,” Assistant US Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf announced last month, citing “positive messages” she received during a meeting with Sharaa.