Above photo: AFP via Getty Images.
Iraq extended an invitation for the former Al-Qaeda leader to attend the Arab League Summit in Baghdad next month.
Iraqi Member of Parliament Alaa al-Haidari has filed a lawsuit with the Iraqi Public Prosecution against the new Syrian President, Ahmad al-Sharaa, Shafaq News reported on 29 April.
In a video statement from the Supreme Judicial Council building, Haidari said, “I filed the complaint against the terrorist Julani, known as Ahmad al-Sharaa,” who “was part of ISIS organizations in Iraqi territory.”
This comes as the Syrian President received an official invitation from Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani on 27 April to attend the Arab League Summit scheduled to be held next month in the capital, Baghdad.
Informed sources told Shafaq News that an arrest warrant was issued by the Iraqi judiciary against Sharaa, previously known as Abu Mohammad al-Julani, in late 2024.
Sharaa became President of Syria after his armed group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), toppled former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s government in December and took power in Damascus.
HTS was previously known as the Nusra Front, which was established in 2011 when ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi sent Sharaa to Syria with fighters and money to establish a group to fight against the Assad government.
Sharaa had entered Iraq in 2003 to join the nascent insurgency following the US invasion, which had the goal of sparking a civil war between Iraq’s Sunni and Shia communities. Al-Qaeda in Iraq sent hundreds of car bombs to kill thousands of civilians in Shia areas, such as Najaf, Karbala, and Sadr City. The group later became known as the Islamic State in Iraq (ISI) and finally the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
While fighting for Al-Qaeda in Iraq, Sharaa was arrested by US forces and held in Camp Bucca prison, but then released under mysterious circumstances.
“While in Iraq, where he was a member of Al-Qaeda, Sharaa was arrested by the Americans between 2007 and 2008. However, he was later released by the Americans themselves. The Iraqis had no involvement, and no Iraqi judicial ruling was issued against him at the time,” sources speaking with Shafaq News stated.
“However, after detainees confessed to various terrorist charges against Julani, a subsequent arrest warrant was issued for him years ago, without a court ruling,” the sources added.
After traveling to Syria, Sharaa played a key role in the CIA operation to topple Assad that began in 2011. Timber Sycamore was the largest and most expensive operation in the agency’s history, with a budget of $1 billion per year, with assistance from Israeli, Turkish, Qatari, Saudi, French, and British intelligence.
