Rebel leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani's success or failure in transitioning from extremist to nation builder will be felt around the world, says CNA's Liling Tan, who covered the UN for a decade.
Rebel leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani's success or failure in transitioning from extremist to nation builder will be felt around the world, says CNA's Liling Tan, who covered the UN for a decade.
All that was enough for Syria to top the agenda at the UN, but the world body’s most powerful arm was paralysed. "People are exhausted from war. So the country isn't ready for another one and it's not going to get into another one,” Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, head of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham militant group that overthrew the Assad regime, told Sky News on Wednesday .
He started to change his appearance, trading in his militant garb for western blazers, ditched the turban favoured by jihadists, and trimmed his beard. More recently, he took on a more moderate tone in interviews with mainstream media, and began using his real name Ahmed al-Sharaa over his nom de guerre.
It’s an important pivot. Germany and France are now open to working with the rebel rulers if they respect human rights and the protection of minorities. In the US, outgoing President Joe Biden promised the country will help manage risks in the uncertainty, but it will be incoming US president Donald Trump who will inherit what's to come, whether he thinks it’s America’s fight or not.
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