Ahmed al-Shara, the chief of the insurgent coalition that swept to power in Syria final month, has been declared the country’s interim president, a job that may see him navigate a time of untold change for a fractured nation.
Below Mr. al-Shara’s stewardship, Syria’s interim authorities will now face a fragile political transition after the overthrow of the dictatorship led by President Bashar al-Assad.
Among the many many challenges he faces are uniting a posh patchwork of insurgent teams, gaining management over a number of areas underneath the sway of highly effective factions and rebuilding relations with the worldwide neighborhood to undo crippling sanctions.
How did Mr. al-Shara rise to energy?
Previously recognized by his nom de guerre, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, Mr. al-Shara spearheaded an offensive final month that ousted Mr. al-Assad and ended the Assad household’s iron grip on the nation, which had lasted greater than 5 a long time.
Mr. al-Shara was the chief of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an Islamist insurgent group as soon as linked to Al Qaeda. His faction managed most of Idlib Province, in northwestern Syria, throughout a long stalemate within the nation’s civil conflict, which dragged on for practically 14 years.
In late November, Mr. al-Shara launched probably the most vital problem to Mr. al-Assad’s rule in a decade, capturing territory throughout a number of provinces with out dealing with a lot resistance from the federal government’s navy forces or from their highly effective worldwide allies Russia and Iran.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and different armed factions within the insurgent coalition can be disbanded and built-in into the fledgling authorities’s armed forces, a spokesman for the coalition, Col. Hassan Abdel Ghani, introduced on Wednesday. He additionally declared that the Structure had been nullified and that the legislature and armed forces fashioned underneath the Assad regime had been dissolved, in keeping with the Syrian state information company, SANA.
It was not instantly clear whether or not there was a broad consensus amongst armed teams throughout Syria about Mr. al-Shara’s appointment as interim president. It was additionally unclear how lengthy the transitional interval would final.
What’s the new chief’s background?
Born in Saudi Arabia, Mr. al-Shara is the kid of Syrian exiles, in keeping with Arab media studies. Within the late Eighties, his household moved again to Syria, and in 2003, he went to neighboring Iraq to affix Al Qaeda and combat the American occupation. There, he spent a number of years in a U.S. jail, in keeping with American officers.
Mr. al-Shara later emerged in Syria across the begin of the civil conflict and fashioned the Nusra Entrance, an affiliate of Al Qaeda. He ultimately broke ties with Al Qaeda, and the Nusra Entrance developed into Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.
After sweeping to energy in Syria final month, Mr. al-Shara has appeared to be attempting to distance himself from his militant previous, ditching his fight fatigues and donning a go well with and tie as he welcomed a roster of foreign diplomats to Damascus, the Syrian capital. By eschewing world jihadist ambitions, Mr. al-Shara apparently hopes to achieve worldwide legitimacy, which might assist to draw much-needed sanctions aid and funds for rebuilding.
There are indicators that the technique could also be working.
Final month, the U.S. authorities — which has designated Hayat Tahrir al-Sham a terrorist organization — dropped a $10 million bounty on Mr. al-Shara’s head.
Washington has additionally eased some restrictions on humanitarian aid to Syria, and the European Union announced this week that it will raise some sanctions. These strikes ought to give Mr. al-Shara’s transitional authorities some respiration room because it makes an attempt to construct a extra steady future.
What challenges does Syria face?
Mr. al-Shara has laid out lofty objectives, together with rebuilding state establishments, ridding the federal government of corruption and cronyism, and liberating the nation from the torture and repression that got here to outline the Assad regime.
“What Syria wants as we speak is bigger than ever earlier than,” he mentioned in remarks revealed by SANA on Wednesday. “Simply as we had been decided to liberate it previously, our responsibility now could be to decide to rebuilding and advancing it.”
However many Syrians have questioned whether or not Mr. al-Shara can ship on the bold guarantees and likewise reconcile his former insurgent group’s militant Islamist roots with a largely secular state. Below the watchful eye of the worldwide neighborhood, Mr. al-Shara has sought repeatedly to reassure minority communities, and he has pledged to construct a rustic that’s tolerant of different beliefs.
