Tahrir al-Sham disavows al-Qaeda: Desperate attempts to wash their hands of terrorism

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), operating in northern Syria, is making desperate efforts to wash its hands of blood and terrorism, despite its dark history that made it the parallel faction of ISIS in Syria, as its leader, Abu Mohammad al-Julani, persevered since the beginning of 2020 and has made statements in which he tries to prove that HTS is just a civil political faction.

Most recently, Julani appeared wearing European clothing instead of the military uniform that he used to appear in. He gave an interview to the Front Line program on PBS on Friday April 2, during which he disavowed his affiliation with al-Qaeda. 

Interview details

Julani said in the interview with American journalist Martin Smith that HTS’s affiliation with al-Qaeda has ended, and even upon previously entering into it, HTS did not support attacks against the West.

He claimed that HTS does not pose any security or economic threat to the United States and Western countries, calling on them to review their policies on the organization.

The US State Department’s Rewards for Justice program announced in November 2020 a financial reward of up to $10 million for information on Julani in Idlib. 

Early discoloration

Julani organization's efforts began early and took three phases, with different names. First, it was Jabhat al-Nusra, then Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, and finally Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, all of which were led by one person, Julani.

In the last stage, HTS appeared in a more "pragmatic" way, during which it tried to abandon the militant ideology, with the aim of removing the idea that it is an armed movement that has a historical relationship with al-Qaeda.

Julani dissented from al-Qaeda in a speech in January 2020, during which he explained the new changes in the doctrine of HTS, which is on the terrorist list, stressing that the organization has become a mere national liberation movement against occupation and not just an extremist organization as it was in the past.

Julani noted that his organization is currently heading toward a new change, but at this time it was unable to escape from its extremist approach in order not to open the door to further anger of opponents belonging to armed groups. He believes that the Syrian revolution has succeeded, despite the total devastation the country is witnessing, and that they are now on the verge of a new phase, which is national liberation from the occupier. However, he did not mention the forces present in Syria that he considers an occupation other than the Russian and Iranian forces.

In his speech, Julani said, “We have gone beyond the idea of overthrowing the regime. It is now a battle for liberation and independence from the Russian and Iranian occupation. This Russian and Iranian occupation targets our religion, our land and our resources. Accordingly, we must put our plans, concepts and visions for the next battle of the struggle.”

Julani also met on February 20, 2020, the International Crisis Group and stressed during the meeting that HTS has become a mere local movement and does not practice foreign terrorism. 

Flirting with the West

In September 2020, Julani went out again to confirm his continued flirtation towards the West. In statements published by sites close to HTS, he expressed his wishes for the approval of the West, especially the United States, and claimed that he did not pose any threat to those countries.

HTS seeks to prove its adaptation to the internal affairs in Syria, with the aim of obtaining any share in the future political process through international and regional messages of reassurance, the last of which is talk about opening relations with foreign countries. Over the past years, HTS has undergone several transformations in its military and ideological structure.

Doves with the West, hawks at home

Despite these relentless efforts by HTS to flirt with the West, its actions on the ground contradict this, as reports published by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed that 25 people were killed due to torture in HTS prisons, and 2,057 people were arbitrarily arrested during the nine years of the Syrian war, with the total number of those disappeared at the hands of HTS reaching 1,946 people from 2011 until August 2019.