Who is Abu Mohammed al-Golani, and why do you need to know?

CGTN Europe

He’s arguably Syria’s most influential leader - and he’s rallying the main rebel faction in the civil war. CGTN’s Iolo ap Dafydd explains where al-Golani came from – and how he has changed.

Transcript

00:00Fourteen years since it started, Syria's civil war has erupted again.

00:04Rebel and Islamist groups have taken significant ground in recent days.

00:08The main faction is now known as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham,

00:11led by a 42-year-old leader called Abu Mohammed al-Jolani.

00:15Now, he's born in Saudi Arabia, where his father worked in the oil industry.

00:18Al-Jolani was brought up in Damascus. His real name is said to be Ahmed al-Sharar.

00:24Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, is the biggest fighting group in Syria,

00:27and that's opposed to President Bashar al-Assad.

00:30In recent days, his fighters have taken control of two cities, Aleppo and Hama.

00:35And HTS can be traced back to the 2012 formation of Jabhat al-Nusra, or the Nusra Front,

00:41which for five years was a branch of al-Qaeda.

00:45Now, it's been joined by several other jihadist factions,

00:49and al-Jolani is thought to command some 30,000 fighters.

00:53The base is in Idlib province in northwest Syria,

00:56the center point of most rebel groups opposed to the Assad regime.

01:01Al-Jolani has a history of fighting for al-Qaeda in Iraq and in Syria.

01:05He spent five years in a U.S. prison.

01:07He's designated as a terrorist in the West and by Assad and its backers in Syria.

01:13Al-Jolani is believed to be responsible for carrying out suicide attacks that killed civilians

01:18and supported a sectarian vision for the country's future.

01:22He's said to be more tolerant in his dealings with civilians now and other rebel groups

01:27compared to ISIS or Islamic State.

01:30But he has critics too, even in Idlib province.

01:34Last April, there were protests against al-Jolani's brutality

01:38and accusations of thousands of people being jailed, tortured, and some dying while in custody.

01:44It is too early to say that Abu Mohammed al-Jolani is evolving to become a moderate,

01:49but he has tried to reassure Syrian minorities who fear the jihadists.

01:54He doesn't like the terrorist label.

01:56He says he opposes the killing of innocent people.

01:59But international analysts say his group are now well-armed and more disciplined than in the past.

02:06Others say he's smarter than Assad and has refashioned himself,

02:10made new allies, and started a charm as well as a military offensive.

02:15The Assad government is still backed by Russia and Lebanon's Hezbollah fighters.

02:20But for the time being, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani is arguably Syria's most influential leader

02:25and the most powerful Islamic leader in a country that has 7.5 million refugees inside Syria

02:32and 6.5 million people who are refugees elsewhere.

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